Swan Knight
by Exotos135
Summary: When Izuku Midoriya decided to jump off the roof of his middle school, he was planning to end his life. This was true, in a way: his Quirkless life ended, and his Quirky life began. Currently undergoing rewrite.
1. Swan Dive

If there was one thing Izuku Midoriya knew better than the rest, it's that life could be really cruel. And this day was definite proof of that.

His classmates and teachers mocked his dream of going to U.A. His prized notebook was destroyed, just when It was done. Bakugou still wanted nothing to do with him, and in fact said:

_"Take a swan dive off the roof, then maybe you'll get a Quirk in your next life!"_

And those words were growing more and more tempting by the minute. He was currently standing at the very same roof, overlooking his classmates as they walked home, even though the bell had yet to be rung.

"Hey, Deku!"

Midoriya looked down, and there he was, Katsuki Bakugou, sporting his usual scowl.

"Get moving already!"

What he probably meant that moment was for him to get down and walk home with him, in a walk that would certainly be filled with ridicule for him.

Midoriya, however, had other plans-

*DING! DONG! DING! DONG!*

And so did the bell.

Startled, Midoriya lost his balance and fell off. Not that he minded too much, he had accepted his fate the moment Bakugou called to him. Even if there were people who'd miss him, they'd be lost in the sea of people who wouldn't.

Only one thing left to do.

Goodbye cruel-!"

Wait... really?

Goodbye cruel world, that's it? Those would be his last words, some generic farewell to the world at large? That wouldn't do! He needed something more specific, something more uniqur.

Maybe "see you in the next life!"

Nah, that's too vague, and if he changed it to include Bakugou or anybody else, that would make them look bad.

How about "you saw This coming!"

Well, everyone's shocked expressions clearly said otherwise-

"Wait a minute, I'm still murmuring. And if I'm still murmuring, that means I'm still alive..."

Now wondering what was going on, Midoriya looked down and discovered, to his shock, that he was currently flying high, his reflection in the lake's water revealing the reason why.

On his back were a pair of large, majestic avian wings, flapping as they kept Midoriya in the air. And they weren't just any ordinary kind of bird wings.

They were swan wings.

"W-Whoa..." Midoriya looked at his wings and slowly smiled. "I... I have wings!"

"He has wings!" one of his classmates exclaimed.

"No... not wings..." Bakugou argued, his eyes glued to the flying boy. "A Quirk..."

Anf as everybody kept staring at the boy, Bakugou's sense of amazement were slowly replaced by his favorite emotion: wrath.

"What the fuck, Deku!?"

Midoriya flinched at this statement, and looked down as his wings dissipated into a sea of white feathers. And, with nothing left to keep him in the air, he fell.

"Oh shit!"

Midoriya closed his eyes. This was definitely it, if this fall didn't kill him, the fact he just sprouted wings out of nowhere would certainly be his end. Hopefully, death by impact would be swift and quick-

"I AM HERE!"

Midoriya was grabbed by a pair of muscular arms, And once he opened his eyes, he saw why.

All Might, the greatest hero alive, was carrying him. But his characteristic smile couldn't hide his worry for the boy as he put him down.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah... I guess so..."

"Good," All Might gently patted Midoriya's back. "Because we need to take you back to school."

"Oh, right..." Midoriya lowered his head. "I do have a couple things to explain, don't I?"

* * *

The answer was yes and no.

Yes, in that Midoriya had been asked a couple questions at the principal's office about the wings and why he jumped off the roof.

But no in the sense of, once those questions were asked and answered, he was released from the office and he went outside... to be greeted by Bakugou's glare.

"Explain."

"I-I just did-"

"Not to that bakd idiot, to me!" Bakugou hissed as he grabbed Midoriya by his shirt. "What the hell was all that with the swan wings and you jumping off there!?"

"I was taking a look at the scenery when the bell rang and I lost balance!" Midoriya exclaimed back, though more out of fear than genuine anger. "And the wings just sort of, happened!"

There was more to it, but Bakugou probably wouldn't care about it.

"Hmph, so that's the story, huh?" Bakugou narrowed his eyes. "You're not hiding anything from me, are you!?"

"I just found out about this myself!"

"...Hmph," Bakugou dropped Midoriya. "If you say so. But keep this in mind, Deku, this changes nothing. Just because you got a Quirk, doesn't mean you're my equal or anybody worth my time!"

"I didn't say that-"

"But you thought about it!"

"I didn't do that either!"

"Tsk, just remember your place, Deku. And also, you better still quit that stupid pipe dream of joining U.A.!"

" What's this about U.A.?"

Bakugou flinched and turned, meeting face-to-face with All Might's wide smile.

"A-All Might! W-W-What are you doing here?!"

"Just a second ago, I was feeling worried about the kid who fell, so I thought I could check if he was alright," All Might scratched the back of his head. "Did I come At a bad time?"

"N-No, I-I-I was just..." Bakugou glanced back at Midoriya and got an idea. "Encouraging my friend here to go to U.A. with me!"

Bakugou shot a look at Midoriya, and he quickly nodded.

"You're both planning to go to U.A., huh? That was my old school!" All Might laughed joyously. "I like your ambition, lads! I'll be cheering you on!"

Bakugou smiled. "T-Thanks."

With another look at Midoriya, Bakugou left the school, leaving All Might to help Midoriya stand back up. "I didn't come At a bad time, did I?"

"N-No, you came just at the right time, in fact," Midoriya answered as he flashed. "By the way, Did you really come here to see how I was doing?"

"Well, that, and there's a young lady waiting outside for her son," All Might shrugged. "So, I thought I could look for him."

"Is she small, plump, and has geen hair?"

"Yup!"

"That's my Mom!"

"Ezcellent!" All Might extended a hand towards the boy. "Let's go see her!"

Midoriya almost accepted All Might's offer, but a question in his head stopped him.

"Before we go... can I ask you something?"

All Might silently nodded.

"What do you think about Quirkless people?"

All Might didn't respond right away. Or for a while, one would say. He didn't even scratch his chin, he just... stood there, like a statue.

"All Mi-"

"I think they're amazing!"

Midoriya blinked twice.

"We live in a society where Quirks are everything: Quirks give people power, authority, a sense of self. And with the growing population of people with Quirks, it's easy to forget the real, admirable survivors, the Quirkless."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you while we walk."

Midoriya finally accepted the hand, and as they walked, All Might fulfilled his promise:

"In a world where Quirks are everything, people without Quirks are seen as oddities at best... and wrong at worst. We've become so symbiotic with Quirks that in our minds, someone without a Quirk has an existence that just feels wrong. But that has never stopped the Quirkless before! No, they do like the people of old: they keep fighting and moving forward, until they feel theyhave done everything can, or that they've gotten enough of this world."

Just like Midoriya until now.

"I-I see... s-so, if that's what you think about the Quirkless in general, what about the idea of giving them power?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"I mean, it's something I've asked myself sometimes: if anybody anywhere found a chance to give a Quirk to a Quirkless person, would they do it? Would they give the Quirkless... a Quirk?"

"And where did This idea come from?"

"W-Well, it's just that... I thought I was Quirkless until today, and I needed to hold on to hope somehow. Besides, it just makes more sense in my opinion."

"How so?"

"Think about it: what's the point of giving more power to someone who already has power? Why not give it to rhe powerless minority who'd definitely need it more?"

The pair stopped in that moment, All Might's smile faltering as he raised his head in contemplation. Not that Midoriya saw this, to him, All Might had just... stopped, for whatever reason.

"All Might?"

The man snapped back to reality. "Sorry, I got... lost in thought. That's certainly an interesting question, Young..."

"O-Oh! Izuku Midoriya, sir!"

"Young Midoriya..." All Might's smile returned and they began to walk again. "I feel you will certainly be a great hero."

Midoriya's smile became nearly as wide as All Might's in that moment, and it remained in his face as his Mom ran up to him, showing concern like her usual self.

But he was focused on a brand new goal, one he thought impossible until he summoned his wings.

He was going to enter U.A.


	2. Entrance Exam

Ever since he got his Quirk, things got a little weirder for Midoriya.

One second he was heading towards the building where he'd take the entrance exam for U.A., probably just about to trip, too.

The next, he slipped on something and fell back, right into a greatly enlarged hand.

"Are you okay?"

Midoriya turned around, and saw the owner of the enlarged hand, a redhead whose hair was tied in a ponytail, looking at him with concern.

"Y-Yeah..." he said as he got off. "I'm fine."

"I'm glad," the redhead shrunk her hand back to normal. "It would be bad luck to trip on the day of the exam."

"That's what I thought!"

The pair turned to the source of both The voice and the slippery substance; it was a girl with pink skin and hair, with notable blush cheeks and small horns on her head.

"So I shot some of my more slippery acid before he tripped!"

"That could've lead to a more dangerous outcome, had I not been here!" the red head snapped, taking a couple stomps towards the acidic girl. "I mean, I understand you had good intentions, but still! Besides, you're not supposed to use your Quirk in public!"

"You used yours too."

"Only because you used yours first!"

"G-Girls, p-please stop," Midoriya stammered. He knew he was entering a minefield by asking the girls to stop, but he needed to do something before a fight broke out. "I-I'm fine now, n-nobody got hurt, s-so how about we focus on something else?"

"Hmm, well, if you really are okay, then I guess We can stop arguing," the redhead walked to Midoriya and extended her hand. "My name's Itsuka Kendo."

"And I'm Mina Ashido!" the pink girl chirped, suddenly appearing in front of Midoriya eith her hand extended.

And as Midoriya hesitantly shook their hands, he realized something:

Assuming he entered U.A., which girl he'd end up in class with would be very telling of his next three years.

If he and Mina got the same classroom, he felt it would be filled with adventure, danger, and romantic issues.

If he and Kendou got the same classroom, the years would be more mellow and calm, the only problems he'd face being exams, bullies... and romantic issues.

Yeah, no matter what, romantic issues would be present.

"Anyway, I'd love to talk some more, but the exam's about to start!"

Mina ran straight for the building, leaving Izuku alone with Kendo.

"Geez, what a troublemaker, but she has a point regardless. Let's head to the exam."

"Huh? O-Oh, right, yeah, let's go."

Midoriya released the girl's hands, and as he walked with them to take the written exam, there was one thing he couldn't get out of his mind:

_I just talked to a girl! In fact, not just one, but two!_

He was red for the rest of the walk.

* * *

Until the practical portion of the exam came along. The written portion came and went pretty quickly, with the only real commotion being Midoriya fanboying over the hero who gave the explanation: Present Mic.

Anyway, the practical was simple: there were a group of robots that had values of one to three attached to them, and the applicants had to destroy as many as they could before time ran out.

It seemed oddly... shallow, but Midoriya wasn't in the place to talk.

Now, he stretched at the entrance to the practical area along with the rest of the applicants. With the odd ezception of Bakugou. Come to think of it, he didn't see him while walking to the building, and the room for the written exam. Maybe he got earlier than him?

Whatever, that didn't matter. For now, he had to recap what his ten months of training allowed him to find out about his Quirk:

First, if he jumped off a high enough altitude, he would summon his wings immediately. They would vanish as soon as he touched the ground, however.

There were also some things he could do on the ground, but Midoriya didn't think those were powers he should keep hidden for now. Mostly because-

"Could you please stop murmuring?"

Midoriya flinched and turned around, sporting the source of the voice as a guy with purple bed hair and tired eyes.

For some reason, Midoriya heard bells for a second after the boy spoke.

"Did you hear them too?" he asked.

" Hear what?" the boy replied.

"There were bells rung just a second ago."

"They're from my Quirk. If you hear them, it means you should shut up and stop murmuring."

The bells returned, and Midoriya kept quiet as the boy turned to face the entrance.

He took a look around to see if any familiar faces were around, but practically everyone was a complete stranger, outside of Kendo from before.

"Begin, applicants! There ain't no timers in real life!"

The entrance opened and everyone ran inside, Midoriya lagging a couple seconds behind from shock. Once inside, he scanned the building and hastily began climbing the tallest one he could find.

As he did, he saw how the other applicants were doing: a guy was blasting some robots with a laser coming from his stomach, a guy with yellow hair shot them with electricity, a guy with a purple mohawk stuck some of them with his balls, and Kendo grew her fist before grabbing and slamming various of the mechanical obstacles on the ground.

_Everyone's Quirk look so cool! I really should've brought my notebook with me, I could've written entire pages with them!_

Before he knew it, he reached the top.

_However, the exam's happening right now. I need to focus!_

Midoriya took a couple steps back from the edge, then sprinted straight for it, jumping just as he reached the edge.

Mere seconds after he began plummeting down, his swan wings were summoned, and he flew right before hitting The ground, staying close to it as he flew towards a group of one-pointers.

Once close enough, his wings did his job for him as they sliced the robots hard enough to make them explode.

_Five points! If I can keep up this tactic with the other targets, I might have a chance of passing!_

* * *

"We got an interesting group this year, don't we?" said a small, squeaky voice. "From the son of the number two hero, to a girl whose completely invisible, and even, I heard, people with extremely similar Quirks!"

"This truly is a spectacle to watch," said a female voice. "So much passion, so much potential-!"

"That will be wasted once we get the first 40 winners," a male voice spoke. "For now, let's try to focus on finding the more promising applicants."

"That's easy, then, the boy with the swan wings."

The shadowy figures turned to the screen showcasing Midoriya, who repeated his slice-and-dice tactic with some two pointers.

"Isn't that the boy who found out about his Quirk from a swan dive?"

A man was heard coughing, and this got the attention of the squeaky voice. 'I assume that's a yes, All Might?"

Finally, one of the figures came into view: All Might. Except rather than being all buff and shaded, he looked lanky and skeletal to cartoonish proportions.

"Yes, that's the boy. It seems he spent the ten months before the exam focusing on figuring out how his Quirk worked."

"What an impressive young las! But we can't be sure of his admittsnce just yet. We still need ro give everyone one final test."

A red button appeared.

"All Might, would you do the honors?"

The lanky man pressed the button.

* * *

Midoriya's flight was brought to a stop once he saw the ground shaking and the applicants stumbling to keep their balance.

_What's going on? Why's the ground shaking?_

Midoriya would soon regret the answer.

A giant zero pointer appeared and slammed his metallic fist on the ground, sending pieces of rubble and the applicants flying away. Once they got their footing, they all began to run away, and despite having the higher ground, Midoriya was compelled to do the same...

Until he saw Kendo trapped in some rubble close to the Zero pointer. Even when she got ready of the rubble by growing and shrinking her hand, though, she stumbled as soon as she tried to stand up.

Midoriya looked at Kendo in dismay, and before he knew it, he zipped to her and grabbed her before flying away from the Zero pointer's reach, holding one of her arms.

"Midoriya?!" she exclaimed.

"S-Sorry, I spotted you having trouble standing up, and I thought you might need help," Midoriya frowned. "Are you okay?"

"No, my ankle's twisted, but this is actually perfect," Kendo faced the Zero pointer. "If you can spin around a bit and throw me at it, I should be able to destroy it, or t least cause enough damage to it!"

"Are you sure about this?"

"Certainly!"

Midoriya smiled with confidence and took a deep breath. He began spinning in place, slowly going faster and faster as the Zero pointer stopped what it was doing to focus on the duo.

And once he had spun enough, the boy slowed down as he shouted:

"Swan Rocket Punch!"

Midoriya launched Kendo towards the robot, and sped up to catch her on the other end.

Kendo, for her part, clenched her fist and reeled back as she got closer And closer to the robot's head. Once close enough, she launched her fist forward and grew it as high as she could.

The resulting punch tore easily through the robot's metallic exterior and interior, with Kendo bursting out of the other end, along with some other mechanical pieces, as she shrank her hand back to normal.

Midoriya caught Kendo, and without hesitation, they flew away as the robot's head released smaller explosions before blowing up in a spectacular fashion. One that almost reminded Midoriya of Bakugou, even.

With the robot destroyed, Midoriya flew back to the ground, his wings dissipating into feathers as Present Mic's voice let everyone know the exam was over.

"That was a good strike," Midoriya complimented.

"Thanks, for the comoliment and for helping me," Kendo replied. "Now, can I ask why you're carrying me like a bride?"

"Wait, I am?!"

"Alright, everybody, calm down, the nurse is here."

The pair turned and saw a small, elderly woman walking around the site, handing candies and healing injuries with a kiss. This woman, Midoriya discovered, was Recovery Girl, U.A.'s resident nurse and the reason the school could get away with such dangerous stunts like this.

She better have had a good pay then.

"Now, what do we have here?" the woman asked as she approached Midoriya and Kendo.

"O-Oh, I'm fine," Midoriya crouched down. "But my friend here twisted her ankle."

"Perfectly fixable, then."

Recovery Girl kissed the ankle, making Kendo wince, and in the blink of an eye, her ankle felt as good as new.

"Now head for your stuff at the lobby and go home. You'll get your results within a week, I'm told."

Midoriya released Kendo, and they nodded in unison. "Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

All Might walked down the hallways of U.A., a small smile on his face. It wasn't as grandiose as one of his buff smiles, but it was still endesring in an odd way.

"Having a good day?"

All Might stopped and turned around, his smile unfazed as he saw the asked was a small animal in a suit.

"Ah, Principal Nezu," All Might spoke. "Well, it's just that the combo the swan-winged boy and the redhead girl did... it kinda got me excited a little."

"Nostalgic, even?" the creature asked.

All Might's smile lightly faltered, and he nodded silently.

"Well, we can talk about that another day. For now, care to come to my office?"

The man nodded, and before he could guess what the principal's species actually was, he found himself sitting in his office, taking a look at the grandiose decorstion that seemed more fitting for a mansion than a principal's office-

"Toshinori."

The skeletal man stopped and turned to face the principal. "Is something wrong, Principal Nezu?"

"Well, I asked you to come to my office for a reason," Nezu clasped his paws. "And considering the absolute secrecy around us, I'm sure you know what I mean."

All Might's eyes widened. "One For All?"

"Precisely, I'd like to know if you have picked someone who'll inherit your Quirk," Nezu sighed. "Your body in its current state won't be able to hold One For All's power forever, you know? You need to pick an inheritor right now before that Quirk destroys what's left of you."

All Might looked shocked for a minute, but he soon flashed a little smile. "Principal, you got nothing to worry about."

Nezu raised an eyebrow, and All Might gave a thumbs up.

"I already chose someone to inherit One For All."


	3. When Izuku Met Mei

It still hadn't arrived. It had been nearly one full week, and his letter from U.A. had yet to arrive. Just how hard was it to deliver a simple envelope saying "congrstulstions" or "better luck next time" to a house?

Then again, U.A. did have several hundreds of applicants to deliver them to, so...

"Midoriya, Hatsume came for a visit!"

The boy's mood suddenly lit up, and he got off the sofa and went to the door to meet the girl herself. Once there, he was greeted by two wide smiles: his Mom's and Hatsume's.

Of particular note about Hatsume, besides her tentscle-like hair, was her black eyes with pink pupils, which looked more mechanical compared to the rest of her person.

"It's good to see you again, Hatsume," Midoriya remarked as he and the girl shook hands. "Bow are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, but what about you?" she replied. "I heard you did the entrance exam almost a week ago, but I haven't heard about your results."

And then the teenagers felt themselves being pushed towards the sofa.

"Alright, it seems you two have a couple things to talk about," Mrs. Midoriya said as the teenagers sat down. "Meanwhile, I have to go clean off the dirt Hatsume brought with her."

Mrs. Midoriya left with that statement

"Hatsume, no offense, but you reek!" Midoriya covered his nose. "What were you doing before coming here?!"

"Oh, I was working on one of my latest gadgets, the Hatsumerang," the girl answered proudly as she took out the blueprints for said weapon from her back. "It's like a boomerang, but mechanical!"

"And you couldn't take a shower before-" Midoriya paused. "No, wait, I just remembered..."

Hatsume and Midoriya exchanged looks, and after a while, Midoriya broke eye contact, while Hatsume kept staring.

"If you're willing to help me, I could take a bath here."

Midoriya flushed as steam burst from his ears.

"Or I could stay stinky during my whole visit."

Midoriya's disgust overpowered his embarrassment. "Let's take a bath."

* * *

One bath later, Midoriya and Hatsume returned to the living room, the latter wearing a t-shirt and short combo that made her look like a female All Might cosplayer.

Once they sat down, Midoriya reached for a peculiar object left in the desk: Hatsume's eyes. He grabbed them, turned to Hatsume, and she opened her eyes to reveal the blank sockets inside.

He hastily put the mechanical eyes back on, and after a few seconds, they became functional once more.

"Thanks, Midoriya!" Hatsume sighed with relief. "I really needed that!"

"I-It's okay, Hatsume," the boy took a deep breath and looked elsewhere. "Just please don't mention it."

Seeing the discomfort in the guy's face, Hatsume quickly changed the subject, "Has your letter arrived yet?"

"No,," Midoriya answered and grabbed a dumbbelle. "What about yours?"

Hatsume blushed and twiddled her fingers. "I got it Wednesday-"

Midoriya immediately dropped his dumbbelle and got up close to Hatsume. "Did you get in?!"

Hatsume looked shocked for a minute before she flashed a wide, prideful smile, which was all the answer Midoriya needed.

"That's amazing, Hatsume!" he hugged Hatsume and lifted her high. "Now you're one step closer to-!"

Then he felt a pair of soft mounds press against his chest.

"One step closer to what?" Hatsume asked with a sly smile. "The suspense is killing me!"

Midoriya released Hatsume, and backed away a little, flushing as he did. "A-Anyway, the fact you entered U.A. is amazing! Not that there was any reason to doubt, your gadgets are fairly high quality despite them being made by an amateur. However, the fact you did them while adjusting to a new type of sight makes it even more incredible! I can only imagine how-"

"Midoriya, you're murmuring again."

".. Sorry."

"No problem. Anyway, do you think you got in? Try not to murmur if you can, please."

Midoriya scratched his chin. "Well, on the one hand, I did manage to use my Quirk in a way that didn't break the rules, and I got my fair share of robots and rescues to my name. On the other hand, though, there were hundreds of applicants, some might have even done better than me..."

Hatsume put a hand on his shoulder.

"Even if you don't get in, I'll still thii of you as a hero."

Midoriya smiled, but it vanished quickly once he remembered the reason Hatsume would believe that...

* * *

_Midoriya stood on top of the roof of his apartmentment when he jumped, his wings materializing soon after, He flew around for a moment, spinning, turning, and just all around trying to gain a better feel for his Quirk._

_"Okay, I can fly up and down, now let's think of something else I could do. Swan wings are strong enough to break bone, so if I could summon them on the ground-"_

_"Help!"_

_Without even thinking, Midoriya flew to the streets in search for the cry for help. He scanned his surroundings, and stopped as soon as he saw the source of the cry._

_A girl with pink hair styled like tendrils covered her eyes with one hand, while grabbing a set of gadgets on the other. Her eyes were apparently bleeding, judging by the blood running down her hand._

_On the other side... was Stain, the Hero Killer, bloody sword in hand._

_"The fakers that plague this world give heroism a bad name enough as it is. To give them to support items, to support them in any capacity, is to join the mockery of heroism!"_

_Hatsume breathed heavily as she crawled back, until she hit a wall._

_"Believe me, I don't feel any pleasure doing this," Stain slowly approached Hatsume. "But the less support the fake heroes have, the easier my mission will become."_

_Just as Stain got ready to strike again, a white blur zipped past him and snatched Hatsume, leaving only her gadgets behind._

_Though surprised, Stain didn't bother following the blur, instead he sliced and diced the gadgets to oblivion, and left to continue his work._

_As for Hatsume, she was released on the Midoriya household's living room, with what sounded like footsteps that became quieter as a voice spoke:_

_"Listen, it's okay, you're going to be fine now."_

_"W-Who's there?" Hatsume stammered._

_"I'm Izuku Midoriya, I snatched you as soon as I saw you being confronted by Stain. I hope you don't mind."_

_"Did you snatch my babies too?!"_

_"... I'm sorry, what?"_

_"My gadgets!"_

_"... No, I'm sorry, I had to leave them behind."_

_Tears became mixed with Hatsume's blood as she cried, both in pain and sadness._

_" B-But look at the bright side! You're still alive!"_

_"And she'll be able to see soon." a female voice blurted._

_"Mom, where did you get those eyes?"_

_"I built them myself while I took that online gadgeting class. One of my coworkers tested them, and they worked just fine with her."_

_"E-Eyes?" Hatsume stuttered._

_"We got a pair of mechanical eyes here that we're planning to install on your sockets. Mom says It's safe, but-"_

_"Please, install them. I want to see where I am."_

_A quick installation later, Hatsume opened her eyed, first seeing static before the screen cleared up and showed her the room... in pink._

_"Everything's pink."_

_"Yeah, I was planning to update them to include all colors, but I kinda forgot about them when I met Midoriya's father. Anyway, I'll update them as soon as I can, so just handle the pink world for now, alright?"_

_"S-Sure..." Hatsume turned to the guy next to her. "Are you Midoriya?"_

_Midoriya nodded. "I am, but I don't know your name."_

_Hatsume flashed a little smile. "Mei Hatsume."_

* * *

"I still wonder what was the Hero Killer doing here back then. He had already attacked this area and crippled four heroes. Even if he had come to the conclusion that support items would make his goal more difficult, why attack a student? He's never done that before-"

"IZUKU!" Inko shouted, barging into the room.

The boy flinched and nearly fell to the ground. "M-Mom, what's wrong?"

"It's here!" Inko exclaimed, reaching for her back to take out a letter eith U.A.'s stamp on it. "U.A.'s letter is here!"

The teenagers exchanged looks, snd after gaining little smiles, Midoriya grabbed it and opened it. A small gadget appeared from within, and it projected a holographic image of a familiar face.

"I AM HERE! IN A HOLOGRAM!"

* * *

"That's a wrap!"

All Might took a deep breath and sat on a chair before he burst out of his buff form, and into his skeletal form. He kept breathing heavily as one of his coworkers, a purplehaired woman named Midnight, offered him a glass of water.

"Thanks, Young Kayama."

Midnight blushed snd giggled, causing the man to blush as Well. "So, how do you feel?"

"Tired: so many promising young heroes to welcome, so little time. And I still have to deliver one more letter personally."

Midnight raised an eyebrow. "Personally?"

All Might smiled. "There's this one girl I recommended to take the normal exam, and she passed. Now, I wanna deliver her the letter to let er know her efforts weren't in vain."

Midnight smirked. "Oh? Is All Might displaying favoritism? That's not a very professional thing to do!"

"Uh, Well, I-"

"Then again, who am I to talk? I tend to focus more on the students I find cute, after all," Midnight folded her arms. "If I may ask, though, who's this girl you wanna deliver the letter to?"

All Might sipped his glass and chuckled, "If I told you, you and the rest of our coworkers would need to keep another secret."

"I don't see why we can't; I mean, we're already hiding the fact your true form looks like someone who spent an entire week in bed with me."

All Might spat out his drink, only to spit out blood as he coughed. "That's... quite the analogy, Young Kayama."

"It sure is, now tell me who she is, pretty please?"

All Might took a deep breath, and once he was confident he wouldn't get another attack, he replied:

"Come with me."

* * *

All Might and Midnight parked next to a seemingly normal apartment, whose first floor lights were on. And judging by the screams and the sillouethes, somebody was training inside.

The duo walked to the door, and All Might knocked twice, his third knock interrupted when an old man in a yellow costume opened.

"Yes?"

"Gran Torino!" Midnight exclaimed, flinching as soon as she recognized the tiny man.

"Good night, Gran Torino-Sensei," All Might greeted as he took out the letter, ignoring Midnight's baffled expression. "I got something for-"

"The girl, don't ya? Yeah, I had a feeling you would come see her," Gran Torino turned to his back and yelled, "Melissa! Toshinori wants to see you!"

Midnight's shock vanished, snd was replaced with confusion. "Wait, Melissa? Is that the girl we're looking for?"

Midnight soon got her answer when the girl herself appeared: Long blonde hair, blue eyes, a simple t-shirt and shorts combo for training, and the most notable feature of hers were her veins, glowing yellow as electricity surged through her.

The veins turned back to normal before she spoke. "Did you need me, Unclr Might?"

Midnight once again became shocked as All Might smiled wide, and revealed the letter.

"I got something for you."


	4. First Day

Midoriya walked out of his train as soon as it unboarded, and power walked happily towards the Hero school known as U.A.

He was in, after so much effort and uncertainty, he had finally entered the hero school of his dreams. This marked the beginning of many things: his hero career, his road to become the greatest hero alive-

"Heyo!"

Also his road to talking to a girl outside Hatsume.

"H-H-H-Hi!"

The boy turned around, and to his surprise the girl behind him was Mina, looking particularly excited.

"Today's the day! The start of our hero career! The start of a journey filled with action! Heroism! Romance! It's so exciting!"

Midoriya nodded nervously as he took a step back, trying to divert his attention as the acid girl began jumping up and down, edging ever closer with every hop.

And then she stopped, and pressed her cheek against his.

"So, can I count on you these next three years?"

"Would you stop harassing him?!"

The duo separated and turned around to see Kendo approach them, a disapproving glare fixed on Mina.

"I understand this is a new beginning for everybody, but you really shouldn't invade someone's privacy like that. You don't even know if he's part of your class!"

Mina huffed, and wrapped her arm around Midoriya's shoulder. "You're just jealous because I got to Midoriya before you did! And even if we're not part of the same class, I'm sure he enjoys my company just as much as I do his!"

"Uh, Ashido, we just met last week, and we never really interacted since then," Midoriya pointed, trying to gently remove the girl's arm from his shoulder.

This only made her hold him tighter.

"Don't worry, we'll have more than enough time to interact once we go to our classroom!" Mina beamed. "By the way, what classroom are you in, Kendo?"

"Class 1-B."

"Hey, just like me and Ashido, then!" Midoriya chirped.

Mina shook her head. "Nah, I'm in Class 1-A."

A short silence passed... and Mina and Midoriya promptly separated. "Wait, what the heck?! You're in Class 1-B?!"

"Uh, yeah?"

Mina dropped to her knees, shedding false tears. "So you lead me on with the idea we'd be classmates, only to tell me to my face we're opposite classes?! How could you?!"

"Um, I-"

"Midoriya didn't do anything wrong," Kendo growled. "You're the one who assumed he was part of your classroom!"

"Tsk, fine, I'll give that to you," Mina stood up and dusted herself. "But I'll remind you that transfers still exist, so if I'm just patient, I'm sure Midoriya will transfer to my-"

Mina paused and flinched, grabbing her butt and twitching in pain as a vine-haired girl entered the scene, sporting a disapproving scowl.

"To think the first thing I'd see the first day of classes is a guy and his girlfriends arguing over who gets to keep him," the vine-haired girl narrowed her eyes. "Disgusting."

"You call us disgusting?!" Mina snapped, standing up as if nothing happened. "You're the one who shoved your vines up my ass!"

"That was for invading a guy's privacy and causing a commotion," the girl explained sternly. "And the next one's for uttering a swear word."

"Wait, the next o-"

Shiozaki made good on her word, but instead of a squeak of discomfort, Mina moaned as she dropped to the ground, clinging her butt and twitching as Shiozaki retracted her vine.

"Oh... Ohoho... Oh, that one... that one went real... deep..."

Midoriya blushed and looked away as Kendo inquired, "Are... you enjoying it?"

"I'm sorry!"

Everybody turned, and Midoriya was instantly stunned by what he saw: a girl with long blonde hair running towards them, with two very notable things about her:

First, she was tall. Like, "basically a head taller than him" tall.

Second, she looked a bit too old to be wearing a high school uniform.

"I told Ashido not to run off ahead, but she didn't listen," she said as she lifted the twitching girl. "She didn't cause too much trouble, did she?"

"She invaded Midoriya's privacy," Kendo explained, pointing at the guy as soon as she said his name. "And she also prompted the vine girl over there to react."

"I'm so sorry, I really am."

"Well, nobody got hurt, so I guess it's fine," Midoriya shrugged, earning a baffled look from the vine girl. "By the way, I'm Izuku Midoriya."

"I'm Melissa Shield," the girl answered.

Another short pause.

"Uh, wait" they said in unison.

"Izuku Midoriya, as in, the son of Inko Midoriya?!"

"Melissa Shield, as in, the daughter of David Shield?!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

The duo squealed snd grabbed hands, jumping up and down as Kendo and the vine-haired girl took a step back.

"I can't believe I'm meeting the daughter of a world renowed scientist!" Midoriya chirped. "Heck, I can't believe we'll be going to the same school!"

"Your mother's not too shabby either!" Melissa replied. "She was one of the best assistants my Dad ever had!"

"Wait, she was her assistant?!"

"And My babysitter!"

The duo squealed again, and this time, the girls interfered.

"Sorry for interrupting your shouting match, but we'll be late."

"O-Oh, right. Sorry, but we'll have to talk about this later, Shield-"

"Please, just call me Melissa."

Midoriya blushed and steam came out of his ears. "A-Alright... Melissa."

The boy began wobbling to Kendo's side, and she grabbed him eith an enlarged fist and ran away, bidding farewell to the gigantic high school girl.

"I think... you'll become... very popular, Melissa-"

"Shut up, Ashido."

* * *

Midoriya took a couple deep breaths as he and Kendo walked down the hallways, heading to their classroom. There wasn't anybody else in the halls for some reason, so there was little risk of breaking his concentration.

"Feeling better?" Kendo asked.

"Yeah, very much," Midoriya scratched the back of his head. "Sorry for acting the way I did, it's just that, she's Melissa Shield, daughter of world renowned scientist David Shield! Meeting her-"

"Is something out of a dream, yeah, you said it back at the entrance. However, while I agree It's amazing to meet her, you'll have to learn to behave yourself; she's going to be a classmate for the next three years after all."

"Right..." Midoriya blushed. "Three years with Melissa Shield as a fellow hero course student..."

And eventually, they arrived at their destination:

Class 1-B.

Kendo opened the door, and she and Midoriya walked inside... only to be met by the rest of their classmates already there. The teacher hadn't yet arrived, though, so that was a plus.

"Hi everybody," Kendo greeted as she grabbed Midoriya's arm and walked to their desks. "Sorry, my friend over here got a little flustered at the entrance, so I decided to help him calm down."

"Friend?" Midoriya parroted.

"That's fine, I think we all know why he was flustered," a silver-haired guy remarked. "It was that tall 1-A girl, right?"

Midoriya shyly nodded as he sat down.

"Yeah, we were all stunned when we saw her too," a bug-eyed boy remarked. "I mean, did you see how tall she was?! I mean, I'm sure she wasn't wearing platform shoes, and she looks taller than some of the teachers!"

"What caught my attention was the fact she's part of 1-A," a blonde guy said, brushing his hair as he added, "Not only do they have the guy with the top score, the son of the number two hero, the most recent son of the Iida family, and the heiress to the Yaoyorozu, but now the daughter of David Shield as well?"

"Huh, when you put it like that, it does seem a little... overkill..." Midoriya shook his head and pounded his fist. *B-But we have our own set of important students, right?"

"THink about that another time."

It was then that the homeroom teacher entered the classroom, anf Midoriya had to cover his mouth not to scream. It was the Blood Hero himself, Vlad King, the one who could controll his own blood and manipulate it to his whim-

And oh lord, it was Melissa all over again.

"Greetings. I'm Seikijiro Kan, otherwise known as Vlad King, and I will be your homeroom teacher. Now, there's not much to do today: orientation, a test of your abilities, and a rundown of what you should expect for the rest of this semester. So, let's get started by introducing yourselves."

Vlad King passed list and the students introduced themselves. The silver haired guy was called Tatsutatsu Tetsutetsu, and his Quirk, Steel, allowed him to turn his body into the material.

The bug-eyed guy was named Kosei Tsuburaba, and his Quirk, Air Shield, allowed him to create shields from the air in his lungs.

Next was the blonde guy, Neito Monoma, whose Quirk, Copy, allowed him to copy someone he's touched for five minutes.

The rest of the introductions flew by fairly quickly: There was Kendo who could grow and shrink her hands, a girl who could summon mushrooms, a girl who could split herself apart into various body parts, another girl who could telekinetically life a body's worth of items-

-And why was Midoriya only focusing on the girls?!

Speaking of Midoriya, his turn soon csme, and he stood up as he said:

"I-Izuku Midoriya! My Quirk is Swan Dive, and by jumping off a certain high point, I can summon a pair of swan wings to fly and do... other things, I guess."

He immediately sat back down.

"Dude, that sounds awesome!" Tsuburaba remarked. "You should give us a demonstration."

"Everybody will get to show off what they can do soon; after orientation, we'll have a Quirk Apprehension Test to see how much you need to improve," Vlad King sighed. "Although, in Midoriya's case, he won't be able to show his Quirk unless he has another method to activate it."

Midoriya shook his head. "I haven't discovered another way to activate it, sir."

"Aw man, what a bummer!" Tsuburaba whined. "I wanted to see Midoriya sprout majestic bird wings!"

Midoriya scratched his chin. "Well, I think if I jumped out the window now-"

"DON'T!" the classroom exclaimed in unison.

"Let's keep going before anybody else gets a crazy idea!" Vlad King stated. "Who hasn't introduced themselves yet?!"

The vine-haired girl from before stood up, snd clasped her hands.

"Ibara Shiozaki. My Quirk is Vines, which turns my hair into a set of vines I can control at will."

With her description finished, Shiozaki sat down.

"Good, perfect, now that everybody knows everybody, let's head to orientation."

The students wasted no time following Vlad King, and as Midoriya followed them, he couldn't help but wonder how much information about them he could add to his notebook.

Or maybe he shouldn't. Or ask permission first, maybe.

* * *

Once orientation was over, which mostly consisted of an hour of the principal talking about nonsense before talking about the important stuff in the last five minutes, the students of 1-B got changed and went to a training yard.

"Alright, here's the gist of it: remember all those physical events you did back in middle school? This test is similar, except you're able to use your Quirks-"

Vlad King eyed Midoriya. "-as long as you don't threaten yourself in the process."

Midoriya took that as a sign not to use his Quirk. Not that he'd be able to anyway, he didn't see a high enough spot to do so.

"Any questions?"

Nobody raised their hands.

"Good, now, let's get to the first test! The fifty meter dash!"

* * *

A pair of students stood at the start of the line, and got ready to sprint forward. The duet consisted of Midoriya, and an odd-looking girl with horns on her head and oddly bent legs.

As soon as the signal was given, Midoriya flinched as the horse girl sprinted on all four, leaving him to eat her dust until he began running himself.

"2.70 seconds!" the robot at the end of the line said once the girl crossed the line.

"4.30 seconds!" it said when Midoriya eventually arrived.

As the boy caught his breath, he felt somebody nudge him on the leg, and it turned out to be the horse girl, who pointed at her back.

"What is it? Do you need something?"

She rolled her eyes and hit him, causing him to land right on her back.

"Oh, you wanted me to sit here?" the girl nodded. "Uh, thanks?"

She gave him a thumbs up.

Midoriya remained sitting down as he turned to see the next pair of students: Shiozaki, and a guy with a glue dispenser for a head.

The fact they were neck-to-neck when they finished would've been amazing... if they hadn't taken forever to get there.

* * *

The next test was grip strength. The students had to grab a wighted object.

The girl with the levitsting Quirk tried to use it to levitate several dumbbells At once, only to catch Vlad King's attention.

"Yanagi, you're supposed to grab the object!"

The girl pouted as she snapped her fingers, dropping the objects to the ground.

As for Midoriya, he simply grabbed a pair of dumbbells and began moving them up and down, before he looked at the rest of his classmates.

Shiozaki, in particular, grabbed one of the objects Yanagi dropped with her vine, followed by a couple more. She turned to Vlad King, who promptly told her to try use her hands for the objects.

She couldn't even grasp one of them before she clutched her arm in pain.

"Shiozaki!" Midoriya exclaimed.

"I-I'm fine!" the vine-haired girl stated. "Just a little cramp, don't mind me."

* * *

.The next test was the standing long jump. The students had to jump and try to clear the sandbox in front of them.

Most reached the end of the sandbox.

Some outright cleared it.

Midoriya only reached the middle of it, and Shiozaki tripped before she could even jump.

* * *

After other tests involving situps, repeated sidesteps, and other stuff, came the final test: throwing the ball.

The first one to try it was Kendo, who grabbed the ball, reeled back, and increased the size of her hands before she three the ball with all her strength.

"500 meters!" said the robot.

After being congratulated by her peers, Midoriya came to a sad conclusion as the rest of the class, Shiozaki, included, did their test next: none were coming anywhere near close to Kendo's record.

Sure, some got pretty far, even breaking the hundreds, but nowhere near the distance Kendo had covered.

Then came his turn, and Midoriya shivered as he went to the throwing spot, ball in hand.

"You can do it, Midoriya!" Kendo shouted.

Midoriya turned back to Kendo and nodded with a smile, before he reeled back, ready to throw the ball. In that moment, the boy wished he had found a way to his Quirk, if not on his back, then maybe on his feet, or hips, or anywhere else that could've helped him in any of the tests.

But oh well, it was too late to think that. He three the ball and, as soon as it reached its highest point... it sprouted wings.

Swan wings.

Which it used to glide as everybody else stood stunned At the sight.

And once the wings vanished and the ball hit the ground..

"370 meters!"

Before Midoriya knew it, his classmates surrounded him and congratulate him, ignoring the boy's confusion over what just happened.

"Did... did I do that?"

* * *

Then came the results. Kendo landed first place, Which didn't surprise Midoriya, but what did was his own placement at 10th place. It was much better than what he expected.

Certainly better than Shiozaki's pñacement, nearly rock bottom at 19th.

And as i to further drive the point home, the girl looked at her ranking with a look of despondent disappointment.

So of course, Midoriya walked to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, Shiozaki-"

She slapped his hand away, her expression turning back into a scowl.

"Keep your pity to yourself."

Midoriya blinked. Pity? He was just trying to cheer her up for landing last place!

"You think That just because you got right in the middle of the rankings, that you can tell me how to improve? You didn't even use Your Quirk the entire test!"

Well, there was a statement Midoriya couldn't refute.

"Plus, you've only had your Quirk for a year, not your whole life. You only trained your Quirk for about a year, not your whole life."

Another comment Midoriya couldn't refute, especially when Shiozaki grabbed him by the neck of his uniform and growled:

"I think I know better than you what struggle feels like."

With her mind spoken, Shiozaki stomped away along with the rest of the class, leaving Midoriya to pondered...

Just what was up with her?


	5. Demonstration

Classes had come to an end as the ringing of the bell was heard, and Midoriya walked with Kendo through the hallways. He wasn't sure why he was so comfortable with Kendo, but for some reason, his usual nervousness around girls just... disappeared, when he was with her.

Maybe she was just that trustworthy?

"So, Midoriya," Kendo blurted, getting the boy's attention. "How do you think was your first day at U.A.?"

"Well, it's still kinda going, don't you think?" Midoriya said, scratching the back of his head. "Once we cross the gate, then the day will truly be over."

"Hehehe, I guess you're right," Kendo folded her arms. "Okay, so, let me say it again: how has this day been for you so far?"

"It's been... nice, actually," Midoriya twiddled his fingers. "There's one thing that worries me, though, and it's about Shiozaki."

Kendo scratched her chin. "She landed near rock bottom during the Quirk Apprehension Test, right?"

"Yeah, I tried to cheer her up after it, but she refused, telling me to keep my pity to myself," Midoriya sighed. "I wasn't even doing it out of pity, I just wanted to try and cheer her up so she wouldn't feel bad about her misfortune."

"Midoriya, that's exactly the definiton of pitying someone."

"Oh."

"Don't worry about it, though, I'm sure Shiozaki just needs some time to relax and think things over. Believe me, when we return here tomorrow, Shiozaki will be in a much better mood."

Midoriya slowly formed a smile and nodded. "You know what? Yeah, maybe she just needs some time alone."

"And we need you to give us a show!"

The duo stopped and turned to see a group of students, presumably from Class 1-A, running up to them, with Mina front and center, and a guy with engines on his legs running right behind her.

"Ashido-Kun! I insist we shouldn't be bothering our fellow hero course classmates on their way home!" the engine guy exclaimed.

"And I insist, iida, that everybody here wants to see it at least once!" Mina argued back as the guy adjusted his glasses. "Admit it, even you want to see what the new guy can do!"

"P-Perhaps, but-"

"It's settled then!" Mina turned to Midoriya and clasped her hands. "Midoriya, could you please give us a showcase of your Quirk? Pretty please?!"

Midoriya eyed the crowd, and noted one particular absence. "W-Where's Melissa?"

Mina groaned and rolled her eyes. "She had to go back home, so she refused to come with us to see you."

"Good," Kendo sternly stated. "That means at least one of you has common sense and decency."

The guy named Iida flinched and clutched his chest, almost as if the statement physically hurt him. Seeing this, Kendo grabbed Midoriya's hand and dragged him away, only to be stopped by Mina.

"You can't leave just yet! You still haven't shown us your potentially super-awesome Quirk!"

Midoriya scratched the back of his head. "It's not that awesome: For starters, the requirements needed to activate it in the first place would get us in trouble if we tried it, and-"

Mina pouted and got right on Midoriya's face. "Well, what do you have to do in order to summon it?!"

"Jump or fall from a high altitude!"

Class 1-A fell silent.

"What, that's it?" Iida asked.

Midoriya tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Mina showed her palms, with a white liquid coming out of them. "I mean, you don't have to secrete acidic liquid from your body that can burn your skin and ruin your clothes?"

The spiky haired guy raised his finger, with some electricity surging through it. "Or shoot streams of lighting with the chance you'll fry your brains out?"

The girl with the long bang lifted her shirt, moved her hand to her stomach, and grabbed a matryoshka doll she created. "Or memorize the atomic composition of the object you want to create from your skin, which, by the way, has to be exposed in order for it to work?"

Kendo and Midoriya fell silent.

"Bottom line is, Midoriya, if all you have to do is jump off from a big height, then you got off easy," Mina smirked. "And I believe we have just the girl who can help you achieve those heights! So, what do you say?"

Kendo tightened her grip on Midoriya's hand and took him to a corner nearby, all while Mina watched them like a hawk.

"Midoriya, I don't think you should go through with this," she whispered. "I mean think about it: what do you gain from this? A stroke to your ego? You don't seem like the kind of person to just go along and do what people tell you to do just because. Let's just go home."

But, Midoriya didn't budge.

"Kendo... I kinda want to do it."

"What?!"

"L-Listen to me: I didn't get to show off my Quirk at all during the Quirk Apprehension Test, unless we count that "giving the ball wings" move I did at the last test. Everybody else got to show off at least something of what they could do, but I didn't."

Kendo released Midoriya. "B-Besides, it'll only be for a short minute. I'll fly for a couple seconds, then I'll head to the ground, we'll go home, and we'll never talk about this again."

Kendo eyed the likes of Class 1-A, who were staring at the duo with anticipation, and then she looked back at Midoriya, whose look pleaded her to allow him to do it.

Eventually, she sighed and folded her arms. "Fine, but as soon as you're done, we're leaving."

Midoriya smiled. "Thank you, Kendo."

Midoriya walked to Class 1-A, who rejoiced once he gave them the news. In particular, Mina hugged him, followed by throwing a sly look at Kendo before she guided him to the P.E. Grounds once more, with Kendo and the rest of 1-A following her soon after.

Just before they left, however, a mess of pink tendrils appeared into view, looking at the sight with mechanical disapproval.

* * *

"Okay, here we are!" Mina chirped as soon as everyone reached the grounds. "Uraraka, it's your turn now!"

Class 1-A parted ways to allow this "Uraraka" to enter the field: she had brown hair, prominent bangs, and blushing cheeks that Midoriya couldn't help but find utterly adorable.

"H-Hi, Uraraka, right?" Midoriya greeted. "I'm Izuku Midoriya."

The girl smiled. "Ochako Uraraka."

Midoriya shyly returned the smile. "S-So, uh, how are you going to help me activate my Quirk?"

"My Quirk lets me negate the gravity pull of an object I touch until I press my fingertips and say release," Uraraka scratched her chin. "Maybe, I could touch you, engate your gravity, and then return your to normal once you feel you're high enough to activate your Quirk?"

"That... sounds perfect, actually," Midoriya clasped his hands. "Okay, so, touch me, and once I tell you to let me go, release me."

Uraraka touched the guy, and he began floating up, Uraraka briefly glancing at a glaring Kendo nearby.

"D-Don't worry, I won't let him go through the atmosphere!"

"Oh, uh, sorry, I was glaring wasn't I?" the redhead asked as she shook her head and changed her expression. "Sorry, I'm just a little worried for my classmate, that's all."

"That's perfectly understandable!" Mina chirped, suddenly appearing right next to Kendo. "But you have nothing to worry about, Kendo! We got Midoriya's back!"

Kendo didn't respond right away, instead he looked strictly at Mina's wide smile, and narrowed her eyes as she whispered:

"There's another reason why you wanted Midoriya to show you his Quirk, isn't there?"

Mina's smile slowly grew smaller, and it gained a hint of smugness as she narrowed her eyelids. "Would I have insisted about it otherwise?"

Mina wrapped her arm around Kendo's arm, and pressed her fingertips against her skin, releasing some acid that released steam and stung, but otherwise did nothing.

"Now listen up, Kendo. I understand Midoriya is in your classroom. I understand you care about him just as much as you do with everybody else. But, and this is for your sake, you should be very well aware that just because Midoriya is in your class, it doesn't mean he can't be transferred."

Mina smirked. "And who knows? This week, something might happen that'll give him enough reason to do just that."

Kendo took a deep breath. "Why do you care so much about the fact Midoriya's in my class? You have the son of the number two hero, the heiress of the Yaoyorozu family, the next in the line of the Iidas, and the daughter of a world renowed scientist. What more do you want?"

"How cute, you think those guys' statuses mean anything to me," Mina tightened her grip, and increased the acidity of her... acid. "The reason I care about the fact Midoriya's in your class, is because he's not somewhere within my reach."

"What, do you love him or something?"

"You don't?"

Kendo and Mina glared at each other, Mina smirking while Kendo growled, until they heard Midoriya shout:

"This is high enough!"

The girls looked up as Uraraka released Midoriya, and Mina released Kendo, bumping her out of the way as Kendo stared strictly at the falling Midoriya. He looked determined at the ground, clenching his fists as he began speeding up.

Eventually, a white light flashed from his back, and just as he was about to hit the ground, a pair of swan wings sprouted from his back and flapped, sending him right back up as the force of the flap sent waves across the ground.

"Whoa!" was the thing most of Class 1-A said in unison.

"So, that's it..." Kendo remarked, suddenly gaining a smile. "That's how his Quirk looks."

Even Midoriya gained a smile on his face as he soared through the skies, making several moves and turns as he began laughing in joyous bliss.

"How cool!" Mina chirped, bouncing up and down. "Midoriya! Come down here and show us what else it can do!"

"I can't!"

Mina suddenly stopped bouncing and got angry. "Why not?!"

"If I touch the ground, the wings will vanish! It happens every ti-"

"Deku!"

The boy flinched and his wings vanished, sending him plummeting to the ground... or so he thought. Instead, he landed on something much worse: the arms of a certain explosive teenager.

"B-Bakugou?!" Midoriya exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

"I'm part of Class 1-A, genius," the guy stated as he dropped the swan dive user. "What, did you forget I promised I was going to get into U.A.'s hero course?"

"Oh right..." Midoriya stood up and dusted himself. "You did mention something like that before."

"Geez, I barely take a couple steps out of the school ground and already people are piling up on Deku," Bakugou snapped a look at Mina. "And you! Why are you forcing him to do something he doesn't want to do?!"

"I'm not forcing him to do anything! Nobody is!" Mina snapped back, putting her hands on her hips. "We asked him if he could show it to us, he said yes, and now we're here!"

"And now, they're leaving," Bakugou stated as he pushed Midoriya to Kendo's side. "Take him away before Pinky over there gets any dumb ideas."

Kendo nodded in agreement, and wrapped her arm around Midoriya and bolt out of the place with the boy in tow, Bakugou summoning a couple of firecrackers to keep Class 1-A, especially Mina, at bay. However, it wasn't long before the pink-skinned girl spoke:

"Just one question, Bakugou: you made it clear you wanted nothing to do with this little detour. What exactly convinced you to get involved anyway?"

* * *

"That must've been quite a show, huh?" Midoriya asked, forcing a little smile. "I talked about how I wanted to show off my Quirk, and in the end, you didn't get to see me do much with it."

"It's okay, Midoriya," Kendo sighed. "The real issue is the fact you agreed to do it so easi-ugh!"

Suddenly, Kendo unwrapped her arm around Midoriya and grabbed it, allowing the boy to see more clearly the source of the pain: the points where Mina had stung Kendo had formed dark red patches, with slight smoke still coming out of them.

"Good lord, Kendo, your arm's been badly burnt!" Midoriya exclaimed as he took a closer look at the marks. "When did this happen?!"

Kendo gritted her teeth. "While you were being lifted, Mina decided to meet me and give me a little, unpleasant surprise."

"What? B-But I did exactly what she asked, why would she..." Midoriya shook his head. "Nevermind, we need to take you to Recovery Girl right now!"

"There's no need to do that."

The duo turned around, and a girl with pink tendrils for hair and pink mechanical eyes arrived, holding a first aid kit. Kendo raised an eyebrow, while Midoriya suddenly flashed a smile.

"I got some first aid right here."

"Hatsume!" Midoriya chirped, grabbing the kit as the girl stood by his side. "I don't know how you knew we'd need this, but thank you so much!"

"No problem, Midoriya, it's the least I could do," Hatsume replied before turning to Kendo. "And I suggest you try to keep your distance from whoever did this to you."

"Trust me, you don't have to tell me twice," Kendo eyed Midoriya. "Say, Midoriya, who's this girl?"

"Right, sorry," Midoriya finished wrapping Kendo's arm, and pointed at Hatsume. "This is Mei Hatsume, a first year in the support course and an old friend of mine."

"Well, nice to meet you, name's Itsuka Kendo, I'm one of Midoriya's classmates," Kendo took a closer look at Hatsume's eyes and scratched her chin. "Hey, those are some nifty mechanical eyes. Are they a result of your Quirk or something?"

Midoriya flinched, and took a step forward, only to be stopped by Hatsume.

"Let me handle this, Midoriya,"

The boy paused, nodded, and stepped back.

"I used to have a Quirk that allowed me to see long distances. However, an incident happened that destroyed my eyes, so, to not be left blind, I was implanted these mechanical eyes as replacements."

"Wait, you used to have a Quirk that affected your eyes? And they got destroyed during an incident?" Kendo recapped, flinching as soon as she finished. "Wait, wouldn't that mean?"

Hatsume grabbed her arm.

"I'm functionally Quirkless."


	6. End of the First Day

Kendo, Midoriya, and Hatsume walked together to the train station, the latter two looking as the former rubbed her forehead.

"Geez, Midoriya, you just became more incredible than before," the redhead sighed. "I mean, you jumped right in and snatched Hatsume before the Hero Killer himself could actually... well, kill her. Who else can claim to have done such a thing?"

"It's not a big deal, really," the guy said.

"Midoriya's right, after all, he just saved me from a serial killer who has a knack for killing and crippling professional heroes," Hatsume rolled her eyes. "When you think about it, it really isn't a big deal."

"We can do without the sass, Hatsume."

Kendo let out a lighthearted chuckle. "You guys are a riot."

"No we're not!" they said in unison.

"Well, anyway, this is my stop," Kendo said as the trio reached the train station, just in time for her train to arrive. "Have a goodnight, and I'll see you again, Midoriya. And maybe Hatsume too."

"I'm on the support course, and spend most of my time there creating gadgets."

"Then I'll tell Midoriya to tell you I said hi."

"That sounds reasonable."

Kendo chuckled again, and entered the train, waving goodbye as the train rode off, releasing dust that caused the duo to cough.

It was Mina Ashido, sitting on a bench and moving her legs up and down, humming a tune.

Upon seeing her, Midoriya's face did what was once thought impossible: he scrunched it in anger. He, and Hatsume, walked up to the girl, who chirped up as soon as she saw him. "Oh hi, Midoriya-!"

"A-Ashido! I need to ask you something!" Midoriya exclaimed, his tone of voice unusually loud.

"Fine, but first, call me Mina will you?" the pink-skinned girl folded her arms. "Seriously, "Ashido" just sounds way too formal for my liking. Aren't we supposed to be friends?"

Midoriya folded his arms as well. "We might not be anymore depending on what you answer."

"Oh?" Mina raised an eyebrow. "Fine, shoot, what do you need to ask me?"

Midoriya glanced at Hatsume, who nodded once, and the guy shot the question:

"Did you sting Kendo while I was showing your class my Quirk?"

Mina remained silent. "Hm?"

"While I was walking with Kendo, I noticed that her arm had some particularly nasty burn marks on it. She said you did it-"

"And you believed her?"

Midoriya flinched as Mina stood up and walked up to him. "Midoriya, did she give you any proof that I was the one who did it?"

"Her burn marks were proof enough!" Hatsume barged in.

Flashing a disapproving glare, Mina grabbed Hatsume's shoulders, brought her to the bench, and sat her down. "Stay here while the adults are talking."

Hatsume begrudgingly obliged, and Mina went back to Midoriya.

"Anyway, where was I? Oh right; you're taking Kendo's side over a simple statement, with no proof to back it up, which seems to have been made in order to incriminate me. Think about this, Midoriya: Why would I want to sting Kendo, while you were busy showing everyone how amazing your Quirk is?"

Midoriya blushed and looked elsewhere. "Again, it's not that amazing."

"Midoriya, don't be fooled!" Hatsume exclaimed. "She's trying to use compliments in order to make you forget about what she did to Kendo!"

"Shush, you!" Mina snapped at the pink-haired gadgeteer. "And besides, you can't accuse me of something if you don't have proof of it!"

"Fingerprints."

Mina turned back to Midoriya. "What?"

"The burn marks in Kendo's shoulder resembled fingerprints," Midoriya clarified. "And judging by their position, they could've only been made if someone had wrapped their arm around Kendo, which you could've done while everybody else was looking at me."

"Midoriya, you're screwing with me, right?" Mina's eyes twitched and her smile turned unhinged. "Y-You don't actually believe that I-"

"That's enough, Pinky."

Mina turned around, and to her discomfort, Bakugou was standing nearby, hands on his pockets as he looked at the pink-skinned girl with his usual scowl.

"Just tell him you did it and be done with it."

Mina gritted her teeth. "For the last time, I didn't do anything!"

"Then who did it?" Midoriya asked.

Mina glanced at Midoriya for a second, before she stomped her way to Bakugou, prompting the boy to grab her arm. "Wait-"

"LET ME GO!"

Mina swung her arm and pressed her fingers against Midoriya's sleeve, burning him a little before the boy's wings suddenly materialized in front of him, and spread, hitting Mina hard enough to send her flying right into Bakugou's arms.

And as the wings dissipated and Hatsume ran to check Midoriya's wounds, the guy looked shocked at Mina's state: not only did two of her teeth fall out, but her nose was broken and bleeding.

This sight, however, simply made Bakugou smirk.

"See? That's what happens when you act like a stubborn little bitch."

"Oh, shut up, Bakugou!"

"Midoriya!" hatsume exclaimed, getting the boy's attention. "The burn marks here, they're the same as Kendo's!"

Midoriya snapped a look at Mina, who flinched as Bakugou pushed her forward a bit. With both boys and Hatsume looking sternly at her, Mina clenched her fists and stomped the ground.

"Alright, fine, I did it! I lightly burnt Kendo's shoulder while you were showing everyone your wings!"

"Why?" Midoriya sternly asked.

Mina folded her arms and looked away from Midoriya, only to be met by Bakugou's horrifying glare instead.

"I-I just wanted to let her know that, just because you were in her class, it didn't mean that you would stay with her forever. That it was always possible you could transfer over to 1-A, for whatever reason."

Midoriya's eyes were hidden by his hair as he grabbed Hatsume's hand, and the two angrily stomped out of the train station, Bakugou joining them soon after shooting another disapproving glare at Mina.

"Deku!"

Midoriya and Hatsume stopped, both throwing glares at Bakugou that barely fazed him. He took a deep breath, and calmly spoke:

"You have all the right to be pissed off over what Pinky did; I'm sure that once everybody finds out what she did, and they _will_ even if we both keep our traps shut, she's going to lose a lot of friends. But... don't assume everybody else in 1-A is the same, okay? They don't deserve to be fucked over thanks to a pink asshole's attitude."

Midoriya blinked twice, his anger being replaced with confusion. After all, Bakugou was actually speaking... somewhat cordially for once. What the heck happened in the time before school started?!

"Why did you help me back during my demonstration?" Midoriya asked. "In fact, how did you know I was going to do that at all?"

"Seriously? A guy with swan wings is soaring through the skies at the school, and I'm just supposed to ignore that shit?" Bakugou turned to Hatsume. "Besides, your girlfriend here told me about it."

Midoriya looked at Hatsume, who looked elsewhere and blushed a little.

"Well, thanks, Bakugou," Midoriya paused. "And tell Ashido... that I don't want to see her for a while."

"I'll give her the message."

With nothing more to say, the duo nodded and left.

* * *

"Well, that was awkward," Hatsume remarked.

"Infuriating is what I'd say," Midoriya sighed. "It's barely the first day and already one of my classmates got injured because a student from the other hero class wanted to be a jerk!"

"I think she had a different, yet also selfish reason to do it," Hatsume scratched her cheek. "Maybe she fell in love with you and saw Kendo as a menace?"

"Well if that's a hint of things to come, I might as well drop romance out of my list of things to deal with."

Hatsume frowned. "Yeah, I guess that's a thought."

Midoriya flinched, and hastily added, "B-By that I mean, I'll try not to purse romance with any of the girls of 1-A!"

Hatsume rolled her eyes, perfectly unamused. Midoriya kept his mouth shut as the duo reached the Midoriya's apartment, and he opened the door...

Only to be greeted by the sight of his mother and Melissa working on some kind of gadget, giving it the finishing touches before they noticed the pair.

"Oh, Izuku! Hatsume! Welcome back!" Inko greeted, Melissa smiling sheepishly as she waved hello. "I invited Melissa over for dinner, I hope you don't mind."

"N-N-N-Not at all!" Midoriya stuttered, clasping his hands as he blushed vibrantly. "I-I just w-would've liked to hear w-we would be h-h-having a g-guest, hehe."

Hatsume threw a pouty look at Midoriya, before she caught a glimpse of the gadget Melissa and Inko were working on. She took exactly a second to recognize the gadget as her own, she snatched it and took a closer look at it.

"Sorry for not asking for your permission first, Hatsume, but Melissa insisted on showing me how much her gadgeeting skills had improved since I last saw her."

"Hey, don't pin the blame on me!" Mlissa whined. "You were the one who showed me that thing!"

Hatsume took a deep breath. "It doesn't really matter: you upgraded it."

Melissa tilted her head. "I did?"

"This gadget was built in order to serve as binoculars: when I finished it, the farthest it could see was about three apples," Hatsume turned to Melissa. "Thanks to the modifications you made to it, now it can see up to three times that far."

"Wow, incredible, Melissa!" Midoriya remarked, walking past a saddened Hatsume. "I never thought you'd be so good with gadgets!"

Melissa blushed and scratched the back of her head. "Well, I was an inventor before I joined U.A's hero course. I designed mech suits, gadgets, and the like."

As the trio chuckled some more, Hatsume glanced between them and the upgraded gadget, her frown gaining hints of despair.

"So, uh, there's something else I wanted to tell you," Melissa said, getting everyone's attention. "Since I-Island is obviously extremely far away from U.A., I'm going to be moving to the room next door starting tomorrow."

Hatsume dropped her jaw and the gadget, the latter somehow not shattering to pieces.

"T-T-Tomorrow?!" Midoriya repeated, his cheeks glowing red. "Melissa Shield is going to be my neighbor starting tomorrow?!"

"Nah, I'll just be the girl living next door," Melissa scratched her chin. "Which I guess counts as a type of neighbor, so I guess the answer's yes?"

"I'm just... gonna leave now," Hatsume walked through the door, returning Midoriya to reality. "See you tomorrow, Midoriya."

"Hatsume, wait-!"

The pink-haired gadgeteer closed the door, and Midoriya sulked. "I think I just upset her."

"Then go after her," Inko suggested. "I'll help Melissa get everything ready in the other room, meanwhile, you should try cheer Hatsume up. She can't have gone far."

Midoriya nodded, and he rushed out the house and after Hatsume, leaving Melissa to ask a worrying question to his mother:

"Do you think she got upset because of me?"

Inko frowned and shrugged, which didn't help Melissa as she turned back to the door, a look of regret on her face.

* * *

Hatsume saved her hands on her pockets, looking at the ground with a forlorn look as she walked back home. It wasn't far away from the Midoriya house, so it would just take about fifteen minutes to get there on foot.

"Hatsume!"

The girl turned around and lowered her eyelids as soon as she saw Midoriya approaching her. "Midoriya? What are you doing here?"

"What am i doing here?! I was looking for you!" the guy replied. "You just suddenly left and I got worried!"

"I'm fine, Midoriya, I just didn't want to intrude," Hatsume looked back at the ocean. "After all, you have a famous guest over for dinner. A guest who, mind you, will become your neighbor tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know, but still, that doesn't mean I'm just going to ignore it when you leave so suddenly!"

"Why not?! You seemed more than capable of ignoring me a few seconds ago!"

Both teenagers stopped right on their tracks, Hatsume gaining a shocked expression as she scrambled to find what to say next. Hopefully something that wouldn't make the guy hate her; he already got a sour impression with Mina, he didn't need one with Hatsume.

"Hatsume, is something bothering you?" Midoriya asked, taking a couple steps to Hatsume's side. "If so, then you can talk to me about it."

"Maybe," Hatsume folded her arms. "But then you're going to go back home, remember that the legendary Melissa Shield will be your neighbor, and you'll forget about everything we just talked about in your little stupor."

Now Midoriya had a slight idea on what was bothering the girl. "Are you jealous of Melissa, Hatsume?"

"... She took the gadget that took me weeks to develop, and upgraded it in what couldn't have been more than a couple of hours. Not only that, but she made upgrades for it that would've taken me months to implement! And you wanna know whys' that?"

"Why?"

Hatsume turned around, and pointed at her mechanical eyes.

"Your eyes? What's wrong with them?"

"It's mostly the fact I can only see in shades of pink; it looks cute at first, but then I realize that it becomes stupidly hard to discern what's supposed to be what. I once poured some salt into my dessert thinking it was sugar!"

"To be fair, they're both the same shade of white-"

"I use brown sugar!"

"... Oh. Well, do you want my Mom to upgrade them?"

Hatsume flinched, and took a step back before she saved her hands in her pockets and looked elsewhere.

"I want your Mom to upgrade them, I really do... but in order to do that, I'd have to go an entire day, or however long it takes, without being able to see anything. At least with how the eyes are right now, I can see stuff: only on different shades of pink, but still! And besides..."

Hatsume lowered her head. "If I hand over the eyes... it will feel just like that day..."

Midoriya knew very well what Hatsume was talking about: not having her eyes would probably trigger memories of her encounter with the hero killer, and that would definitely be a problem while making gadgets.

"Hatsume, my Mom and I want to help you however we can," Midoriya stated, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sure we can find a way to deal with that problem."

Hatsume twiddled her fingers and blushed. "Well, I-I thought... maybe... y-you could be my eyes, for however long it takes?"

Midoriya flinched, blushing at the request. Or maybe he was blushing at the sight of Hatsume blushing as well, who knew? One thing was certain though, the boy had a feeling this might actually work.

"Sure, I'll be your eyes until Melissa and Mom upgrade your mechanical eyes."

Hatsume stood uneasy for a moment at the mention of Melissa's name, but it didn't take long before she saw the logic in it: the girl had already proven to be quite adept at upgrading stuff, so if she and Inko worked together, her eyes would be perfect by the end of the day.

With a renewed sense of joy, Hatsume hugged Midoriya for a second, then separated from him.

"Thanks, Midoriya. Now, I have to walk back home, so I'll see you tomorrow."

"Same, Hatsume."

The teenagers bid farewell, and returned home soon after.

* * *

"Oh, man, that was an emotional rollercoaster!" Midoriya remarked out loud. "I just wanna hit the hay now."

"Midoriya!"

The boy stopped and turned around to see Melissa looking at him on the top floor of the apartment. She waved at him to come to her, presumably to her room, and ignoring the potential implications, he walked upstairs and went to her.

"So, how did everything go with your friend?" she asked.

"I managed to talk to her for a bit, cheer her up, and I'm gonna need your help with something for her," Midoriya answered. "It's about a gadget, so I hope you'll be able to help us with it."

"Of course! I got a knack for gadgeeting, after all!" Melissa frowned. "Besides, it's the least I can do after upsetting her like that."

Midoriya shrugged. "I don't think you really upset her, just... actually, who am I kidding, you definitely upset her."

Melissa took a deep breath and scratched her chin. "Well, that's that. Your Mom already helped me set my room up, so I wanted to tell you to have a goodnight... but, there's something I want to tell you, before you go."

"Well, I'm asking you to help me with Hatsume, so I think this is fair. So, what is it?"

Melissa opened her mouth, but before she uttered a single word, she closed it and looked at the ground. Her face contorted with concern, and she bit her lip as she struggled to find the words she wanted to say, until she finally spoke:

"I-I'm actually... worried about this... me moving in, I mean."

Midoriya blinked twice. That was... an oddly realistic thing to be worried about.

"I mean, ever since I was young, I lived with someone: My Dad, my Mom, my Dad's friends, my Mom's friends, but... right now, I'm going to be living on my own, with nobody to support me outside of my Dad sending money once in a while," Melissa twiddled her fingers. "I mean sure, I'll fight the loneliness by visiting you and Aunt Inko constantly."

Midoriya made a mental note to prepare his heart for that.

"But it won't be the same..."

The guy smiled and folded his arms. "Well, there's a first time for everything. And no matter what happens, you'll have us right next door in case you need help."

Melissa turned back to the boy, flashed a smile, and nodded. "I'll be counting on you."

Midoriya flashed a wide smile and bid goodnight as his face turned red all over again. He wobbled his way to his apartment door, and Inko let slam inside, Melissa giggling as they closed the door.

With him gone, the girl's laughter died down and she looked at her hand.

The same hand that she used to accept the offering given to her by All Might. The same hand that accepted the gift known as One For All, and finally gave her a Quirk after a lifetime of Quirklessnes.

And yet, thanks to her hesitation, this Quirk would have to be kept a secret for a little bit longer.

_Damn it._


	7. Rose Tinted Goggles

Hatsume blinked twice, her pink vision allowing her to see the worried looks of Midoriya and his mother as Melissa arrived, holding a toolbox. She had already changed to her school uniform, so the only thing left to do was take out the eyes to get hem upgraded.

"Are you sure about this, Hatsume?" Inko asked as she grabbed an anesthetic from the toolbox. "We could always wait until the weekend to upgrade your eyes. No need to miss a school day to upgrade your eyes-"

The gadgeteer shook her head. "No, I want them upgraded as soon as possible. Besides, Midoriya promised me to be my eyes for today, so I got nothing to worry about."

"You two really are close, huh?" Melissa asked as she formed a supportive smile. "I mean, I guess it's only natural. It's thanks to him that you got these eyes, right?"

Hatsume flinched a little, forgetting that Melissa was more than likely unaware of what had transpired between the Hero Killer and the guys. But she didn't let this get her down for long. She took a deep breath, nodding in agreement as Inko injected the anesthetic on her arm.

And a few seconds later, Hatsume fell unconscious.

A couple minutes passed, and when Hatsume regained consciousness, she could see... nothing. Even when she opened her eyelids, weakly, the nothingness remained, simply glowing brighter.

"Hatsume, how do you feel?"

Midoriya's voice. Music to her ears.

"I'm fine. Can't see anything, though."

"Of course not, we took out your eyes," Inko's voice remarked. "Melissa and I will work hard on them so you'll be happy with them when you return."

A soft sensation in her hand startled Hatsume, but she calmed down once she realized the sensation was someone, possibly Midoriya, grabbing her hand to guide her.

"Hey, wait a minute, I just realized something: doesn't Midoriya and Melissa have to go to U.A.?"

"I called Principal Nezu and explained to him that I would be running late thanks to your request," Melissa explained. "He said it was fine as long as I got ready as soon as the gadget had been dealt with."

"As for me," Midoriya spoke. "I called in to say I had some business to take care of, so I wouldn't be able to go to school today."

Hatsume frowned. "But Midoriya, what about your classes?"

"I'll just ask Kendo to give me a recap of what went down today. And yes, I know there's also the chance Vlad King will be _furious_ when he finds out I didn't go today, but at least I have a reason why."

Hatsume felt Midoriya grabbing her hand tightly, but not enough to crush. It felt more like a protective hold, as if Midoriya wanted to reassure her that nothing bad would happen to her.

"Now, where would you like to go first?"

Hatsume chuckled. Did he really just ask the blind girl to effectively lead the way?

"I'll go wherever you wanna go, Midoriya."

"In that case, I know just where to start!"

* * *

Hatsume sat down on a bench, in what she assumed to be a place close to a beach, going by what sounded like waves crashing on the shore. The girl was curious why this was Midoriya's first place to go to, but she decided to go along with it.

She couldn't exactly take the lead and go somewhere else.

"And we're here," Midoriya voiced, getting her attention. "Dagobah Municipal Beach Park."

...What?

"Um, Midoriya, did I hear you right?" she asked. "I mean, isn't Dagobah Municipal Beach Park more of a... dumpster, nowadays?"

"Not anymore, because some anonymous person was nice enough to clean the beach. I know you can't see it, but there's not a speck of garbage in the vicinity."

Okay, new plan: as soon as Hatsume's eyes were done, they had to go back so she could see the beach for herself.

"Midoriya, if you don't mind me asking, why did you take me to a beach?"

Just then, Midoriya loosened his grip on Hatsume's hand, so the girl tightened her own grip and grabbed his arm with her free hand. She made sure not to get too close, she knew doing such a thing would just scare him, which would make him separate from her.

"Don't worry, Hatsume," Midoriya remarked, his oblivious tone doing nothing to calm the girl's fears. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Y-You better not."

The boy paused. "Okay, let's do something: we'll sit on the sand, and I'll tell you what I wanted to do here, okay?"

Hatsume just nodded, and next thing she knew, Midoriya took her to a place closer to the waves and sat down.

The sand felt nice, and the louder sounds of the waves crashing in the shore had a soothing feeling that helped Hatsume forget her fear that Midoriya was going to go away and leave her behind. It didn't completely go away, though, as the girl had clung to the boy's arm.

"I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but..." Hatsume sighed. "I just don't feel safe without knowing you're near me."

Midoriya brushed Hatsume's hair. "Hatsume, you know that no matter what happens, I'll always be there for you."

"I'm sorry, Midoriya, I really am, but I just can't find it in myself to believe you. I feel like, any second after you let go, the Hero Killer is going to come out of nowhere and finish what he started."

Yup, even months after the event, and several months since the Hero Killer was still spotted, the girl was still terrified of the prospect of him appearing and killing her.

Sure, it was unlikely. Sure, there was a chance he'd kill a dozen heroes before he'd ever think of killing a support student. And sure, he could very well not appear until years down the line.

None of that mattered.

What mattered was that he blinded her, and he was still out there.

To Hatsume, without Midoriya or mechanical eyes, it was a matter of time before she was found and-

-hugged?

"M-Midoriya?"

The hug tightened, confirming it was Midoriya who was giving Hatsume a showcase of affection.

"W-What are you doing?"

"I couldn't think of anything else to do, so, I was hoping this would be enough to cheer you up," he answered, before he brushed her hair again. "I can't just stand and watch you be scared like that."

Hatsume eventually hugged back, letting out a chuckle as she quipped, "Well, you've always been unable to refuse a call for help."

Midoriya smiled, though Hatsume couldn't see it. "And in your case, I'm very glad I didn't refuse it."

Hatsume blushed brightly. "M-Midoriya, w-what are you saying?"

Midoriya began to separate from Hatsume, but unlike last time, the girl gathered her composure and didn't try to force him to stay put. Which was good, since she'd need all her energy for what he'd say next:

"I'm saying, that I want to protect you."

Hatsume raised an eyebrow, so Midoriya explained:

"When I snatched you away from the Hero Killer, I had no idea what to do. Sure, helping you get your eyesight back was the obvious thing to do, but after that, I was at a loss. And you just kept coming back..."

Hatsume blushed a little at the statement. She remembered how, in the ten months leading to the entrance exam, she would drop by the Midoriya's more and more often, initially just to try and test her mechanical eyes.

But eventually, she started dropping by just because. And then, she began to feel a little disillusioned when told Midoriya wasn't around.

And now, she had just tried to stop him from leaving her.

"I think I understand."

Was she too obvious?

"You're scared that if I leave you alone, Stain will kill you, right?"

Phew, false alarm.

"Y-Yes," she stammered. "T-That's it."

"Well, I want to let you know that, no matter what happens, I'll be around to protect you," Midoriya patted Hatsume's back. "Even if you think you're alone, you won't. Because I'll be with you, protecting you and making sure nothing bad happens to you."

A white flash happened, and Hatsume felt something very light land on her hair. Not that she gave much thought of it before she suddenly stated:

"I want to protect you too."

Midoriya said nothing, and after a short pause, Hatsume continued:

"It's not fair that you want to protect me without getting anything as a result. You have U.A., you have a future hero career, and you have a potentially crazy stalker who wants you for herself."

Midoriya nervously chuckled. "Okay, Mina definitely didn't give the impression of being pleasant, but I don't think she's that crazy."

"Whatever!" Hatsume twiddled her fingers. "The point is... I want to help you, just as you've helped me. So, if you say you want to protect me, then I'll protect you back."

"Hatsume..." his voice had a hint of relief in it.

"I don't know how, now how long it'll take, but I'll find a way to have your back, Midoriya."

With that, the teenagers patted each other's back, and remained silent as the sounds of the waves and the seagulls adorned the atmosphere.

And then Midoriya scoffed:

"You know, it's been almost over a year since we first met. Shouldn't you be calling me Izuku already?"

Hatsume pushed Midoriya away and flailed her arms.

"Are you crazy?! That's way too fast! We're good friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend!"

Midoriya chuckled. "Sorry, I just wanted to give you a piece of your own medicine."

"You jerk!"

Midoriya kept laughing, but it didn't have a hint of malice. It was just playful, friendly, the kind that anybody could join in without looking like an utter jerk.

And Hatsume did just that.

* * *

The rest of the day was nowhere near as eventful, so much so that, if you were to ask Hatsume, she and Midoriya had spent the whole day at the beach, with only a short stop at a carnival to eat ice cream.

The duo thus returned to the Midoriya household, being greeted by a welcoming hug from Melissa and Inko. And judging by how she felt a pair of soft mounds smothering her face, Hatsume figured Melissa was the one hugging her.

"Oh, Hatsume, you're back!" Melissa chirped, confirming she was the one hugging her. "I was just about to go out looking for you!"

"We weren't gone for that long, were we?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, but we finished upgrading your eyes, and I couldn't contain my excitement "It felt so good to work with Aunt Inko once again!"

"And me!"

Hatsume gently released herself from Melissa's hold and tried to walk closer to the voice, only to be stopped when Midoriya kept his grip on her.

"Midoriya, do you see where that voice came from?"

"Yeah, it belongs to a small boy with... a purple, circular mohawk?"

Hatsume wasn't sure how to take that answer. All she knew was that she wanted to know who it was, and there was only one way to find out.

She was knocked out again so the process of inserting the eyes wouldn't hurt, and a few minutes later, Hatsume opened them... and was utterly mesmerized.

Red! Blue! Green! Yellow! She could now see all the colors! And not in a clusterfuck of colors like in those abstract paintings, but she could see things clearly!

Like how Midoriya and Inko had green hair, Melissa was blonde, and the short guy really did have what looked like a purple, rounded mohawk-

Wait, the short guy!

"Who are you?!" Hatsume exclaimed, pointing at the boy.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the guy said, Hatsume flashing an expression that told him to get on with it. "My name is Minoru Mineta. I'm on the support course, and I came here to check up on my senior."

"Senior?" Hatsume repeated. Did that mean the boy was on her class?

"How did you know to look for her here?" Midoriya inquired.

"I asked our teacher where she was since she didn't appear, and he told me that your Mom sent him a message telling him she wouldn't come," Mineta explained with a shrug. "So then I asked some people where I could find your house, and a guy with blonde hair gave me directions."

Bakugou gave the little guy directions? Without blowing him up? Then again, it was just as likely the little guy didn't mention that stuff for one reason or another.

"Anyway, I got here just as the two ladies over there were working on your eyes," Mineta added, causing Melissa to blush while Inko just chuckled. "So, since you're my senior, I figured I could add some modifications myself."

Oh lord, what the hell did the little twerp do?

"If you wanna know, just press the purple button to your left."

Hatsume touched the left side of her face until she found the mentioned button, and pushed it. Once she did, she was stunned: her vision had zoomed in on the guy's face, and allowed her to take a closer look at the room in general.

She pressed it again, her vision zoomed further.

She pressed it once more, and it zoomed even further.

But then she pressed it again, and her vision zoomed back to normal.

"I-It's just like my Quirk!" she chirped. "B-But how?!"

"The boy there reminded us of your Quirk when he asked for a girl who could zoom into things," Inko explained. "And since we had some time, we installed three sets of sight-enhancing apparatus to your eyes."

"I added the button!" Mineta chirped, as if he had done anything important.

Hatsume smiled and nodded. "Thanks, little guy."

Mineta chuckled and scratched the back of his head, while Hatsume turned back to Midoriya.

"Can we go back to Dagobah Municipal Beach Park?"

* * *

All five of them did.

Midoriya, Melissa, Inko, and Mineta stood just at the start of the park, while Hatsume took a couple steps forward, taking in the time to look at the scenery in front of her.

Sure, she could always just zoom in, but that would risk getting a faceful of the sun.

The sunset adorned the sky with a breathtaking orange color, and its reflection shined in the waves as they crashed on the shore.

Hearing the waves was soothing enough. Seeing them... was another thing altogether.

"So, Hatsume..." Midoriya walked to Hatsume's side. "What do you think? Do you like the upgrade?"

Hatsume formed a smile, and rested her head on Midoriya's shoulder, keeping her eyes locked on to the sunset.

"I love it..."

"By the way, Hatsume, before I forget," Midoriya blurted. "Where did that feather come from?"

Surprised by the question, Hatsume touched her hair until she felt something fluffy. She grabbed it and took it down to see whatever it was, and she saw it was the feather that Midoriya just mentioned.

But it wasn't any ordinary feather.

It was a swan feather.


	8. Calm Before the Storm

Melissa yawned as she got up from her futon, stretching her limbs as she walked to her curtains and parted them, hoping to be met with a vibrant sun.

Instead, it looked extremely cloudy, to the point it would most certainly rain at any minute now.

"Well, that's a downer of a sight," Melissa hummed. "If it does end up raining, it won't cancel classes, but I don't have an umbrella or a raincoat..."

Melissa snapped her fingers, and opened her drawer, taking out a red arm brace from it.

"So I'll just have to make it sunny!"

She opened the door to her room, closed it, and walked down until she was a couple steps away from the apartment. A quick scan around the area showed nobody else was around, so Melissa was free to charge her arm brace and say:

"Weather Smash."

She threw a punch in the air, and the resulting shock was so intense it cracked the ground underneath her and pierce a small hole on the cloudy sky.

It wasn't long before hole was filled closed, though.

"Hmm, I guess I should've seen this coming," Melissa eyed the brace. "The All-Brace was created to contain Uncle Might's immense power, but my current control is nowhere near thatpptent; it figures that a punch from it directed at the sky wouldn't be enough to change the weather."

"Melissa?"

The girl flinched and turned around, spotting the Midoriyas walking to her.

"Oh, hi Midoriya, Aunt Inko," she greeted with the arm brace, which she quickly hid. "Good morning! I was, uh, just doing some stretches!"

"Is that the reason you're wearing that arm brace?" Midoriya asked.

Crap, guess they did see it after all.

"Uh, yeah, it's an arm brace I designed myself," Melissa nervously presented the brace. "You see, m-my Quirk releases a lot of force, enough to break my bones even, so I designed this little-"

Melissa paused. She wanted to say "baby" but she feared doing so would summon Hatsume right to her side.

"-trinket in order to help me control it better."

"Whoa, that's a amazing!" Midoriya said. "Can I take a closer look?"

"Maybe later, for now, you two need to get ready for school," Inko remarked. "Now, Izuku, do you mind going back and get changed while I talk with Melissa?"

"Uh, sure."

The boy walked back to his room, and Inko grabbed Melissa's hand. "Let's go to your room."

* * *

For a famous scientist's daughter, Melissa didn't live particularly luxurious. In fact, her room was quite humble: a TV, a futon, a desk, and some instant Good as well as a cooking machine were all that was present.

"I still think this room is a little empty," Inko remarked.

"I'll work with what I got until I get some more money," Melissa said in response. "Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Inko turned to Melissa, put her hands on the table, and sighed, "Have you told Izuku about your Quirk yet?"

Melissa flinched. She figured Inko would ask her this question eventually, just not so Suddenly. She got the idea to lie and say yes, but Inko's concerned expression convinced her to change her plans.

After all, Inko could tell a liar from a mile away.

"No, I wanted to tell him yesterday, but I got cold feet and told him I was worried about the moving. Which, I mean, that's also true, but not nearly as important!"

Inko took a deep breath. "Melissa, I know you don't like keeping secrets from people, mostly because you can't exactly hide them without acting so weird, people end up finding about them eventually."

Melissa chuckled and scratched the back of her head, flashing a sheepish smile.

"What I'm trying to get at is, are you certain that you want to tell Izuku about your Quirk? Perhaps the reason you got cold feet yesterday was because you weren't actually sure about your decision."

Melissa lowered her head. "A part of me wants to forget about it, and keep him in the dark. But another part of me is telling me that if he has to learn about the Quirk, it should be from my own mouth, not his own deductions."

"So, you recognize that he could figure it out on his own," Inko folded her arms. "Izuku's a smart kid, so if you decide not to tell him, it might not be long before he finds out on his own."

"Aunt Inko, no offense, but you're doing a _terrible_ job at convincing me this is a good idea."

"I'm not trying to convince you to do anything, I'm just stating the facts. In the end, the only one that can decide whether to tell Izuku you have One for All or not, is you."

Then, Inko thought about it, and blurted something that caught Melissa's attention:

"Although, maybe getting All Might's opinion wouldn't hurt."

Of course, Uncle Might! He's the one who handed her the Quirk, it would only be fair to get his opinion on whether to tell Izuku or not before doing it! And since he had to keep his Quirk's nature a secret ever since he got it, he'll definitely have a better understanding of the situation, right?

...Right?

Wait, crap, she was going to run late! And this time, she wouldn't have an excuse!

"Sorry, Aunt Inko, but I gotta go!"

One quick change of clothes later, Melissa bolted out of the room, leaving Inko to pray that Melissa would get an answer on what to do eventually.

* * *

Melissa entered the train and sat down mere seconds before it drove off, sending her sliding slightly to the side. She quickly grabbed on to the arm rest and took a deep breath.

_Okay, Melissa, stay calm. You're going to go to Uncle Might's office as soon as you can, you're going to ask him for his opinion on the matter, and then you'll decide whether to tell-_

The girl paused, and slowly turned around to meet the confused looks of Midoriya and Hatsume.

"Midoriya?! Hatsume?! How long have you been there?!"

"Since the train took off?" Hatsume answered. "I mean, we're all heading to U.A., it's only natural we'd take the same train."

"It's kind of surprising we wound up sitting together, though, especially since some of us left earlier than others," Midoriya let out a little chuckle. "It's almost like fate wanted this to happen, huh?"

_Yeah, fate can have a pretty sick sense of humor at times._

"So, where's your arm brace?" Midoriya asked.

"I saved it inside my bag," Melissa answered, forcing a little smile. "I only really use it during training, and since we got basic heroics today..."

"Can I see it later?" Hatsume inquired, tilting her head. "I want to see how it compares to some of the stuff my juniors and teacher do."

Melissa giggled. "Hatsume, don't be ridiculous. My craftwork can't possibly compare."

"You practically replicated my Quirk when you and Midoriya's Mom upgraded my eyes; there's being humble, and then there's being ignorant of what you can do."

"What Hatsume's trying to say is," Midoriya flashed a smile. "You're quite gifted with gadgetry. So, maybe you should try to be more aware of it? We're not going to judge you."

Melissa smiled for a second before she hugged her bag, her smile turning into a frown as she turned to look at it. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Besides-"

Suddenly, the train stopped just short of U.A., and as soon as the doors opened, Melissa stood up and bolted out of the place. Midoriya and Hatsume followed behind, only to be stunned when they saw Melissa speed away so fast, she left yellow afterimages.

"Whoa, wait, I thought her Quirk had to do with her arms?"

"Maybe it's one of those Quirks that affects different body parts?"

* * *

With the awkwardness of the train ride still fresh in her mind, Melissa walked through the hallways and headed to All Might's office. She needed to get there before fate decided to have her go through another meeting with the little green bean.

She knocked the door three times once she arrived.

"Come in!"

Melissa opened the door and saw All Might, wearing a yellow suit in his muscular form, holding a cup of coffee while facing away from the door.

"U-Uncle Might?" Melissa asked as she walked inside.

"Please, Young Melissa!" All Might laughed and turned to Melissa. "You know that while we're in school, you're supposed to call me All Might!"

"I know, sorry, I still haven't worked out that Quirk," Melissa giggled. "A-And speaking of Quirks-"

"Before you continue, please close the door."

Melissa obliged, and as soon as he locked the door as well, All Might blew up in a smoke cloud. He emerged from the cloud looking like a lanky skeleton, his clothes fitting him a little less tightly than before.

"Phew, thanks for that," the man sat down on his desk and took a deep breath. "I need to recharge as much as I can, I got two hero course classes to give and I feel like they're going to take a while. Anyway, what did you want to talk about, Young Melissa?"

Melissa sat down next to the lanky man. "It's about One for All."

All Might paused and took a sip of his coffee. "Is something wrong with it?"

"No, in fact, I think I might be able to increase the output I can use from eight percent to twelve percent by the end of this week!" Melissa scratched her cheek. "What I wanted to discuss you was about the idea of letting someone know about it-"

"Young Melissa, the more people know about One for All, the much greater risk it runs at its true nature being discovered," All Might calmly pointed out. "And once the truth about One for All comes to light, the villains will take every advantage they can get with it."

"I know," Melissa whined.

All Might sighed. "So, who did you tell about it?"

"J-Just Aunt Inko so far."

"Ah, Inko Midoriya. I saw her a couple times while she and David were still co-workers," All Might flashed a little smile. "She was quite a woman: dependable, supportive, always ready for everything, it truly was sad when she stopped showing up. I think it was a good call to tell her; she won't tell anybody about it no matter what."

"T-Thanks, but, there's another person I'm debating on telling about One for All," All Might's smile vanished and he took a sip of his coffee. "I-It's her son, Izuku Midoriya."

All Might spat out his drink, before spitting some blood during a coughing fit.

"Uncle Might, are you alright?!"

"*cough* Y-Yeah, just *cough* you surprised me, that's all," the man wiped the blood off his mouth. "Izuku Midoriya... do you really think he's someone worthy of knowing about One for All?"

Melissa twiddled her fingers. "I was hoping you could help me decide whether I should tell him or not."

All Might shook his head. "I'm afraid you got the wrong person. During my entire time with One for All, I never told a single person about its existence. Not my closest friends, not my family, not even your father knew about it."

Melissa pouted. "And a couple of things could've been aborted if you _had_ told him."

"We can discuss what happened at I-Island later," All Might took a sip from his coffee. "For now, I cannot

"The problem is that, I feel like he's going to find out regardless of whether I tell him or not. But if he finds out on his own and not from me, his perspective on me... might change..."

All Might raised an eyebrow.

"What I mean is, I think he'll grow to distrust me if he finds out I had your Quirk this entire time and didn't trust him enough to tell him about it."

"Hmm, if he really is Inko's son, I doubt he'd think that; Inko was always a very understanding, very calm person. Even so, I cannot tell you that telling him is a good idea. Having Inko as a confidant should be enough."

"And yet, it feels like something's missing."

All Might put his coffee on the table. "Young Melissa, listen-"

Suddenly, the alarm blared, and Melissa stood up and looked through the window to see what was going on. She figured it was just the media having broken inside to try and get an interview on All Might.

She was wrong. She was _so very_ wrong. The media invading the school would've been a much better alternative.

Because instead of the media, it was "Hero Killer" Stain who was on school grounds.


	9. The Stain Among Us

The entire school stood frozen in disbelief as they tried to process what they were looking at: Stain, the legendary hero killer with over a dozen... well, hero kills, under his belt, was now around the school, surrounded by promising hero students and everybody else.

_Hmph, I can sense their fear towards me. Good, that will make it easier to tell who's a faker and who's a legitimate hero._

Suddenly, the alarms blared, which brought a smile to the killer's face.

_Any hero will take that as a sign to act. Now, to wait and see how long it takes before a genuine hero comes to the fray..._

* * *

"This can't be happening! _This can't be happening!_ **THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!**"

"Young Melissa, please calm down!" All Might said as he walked to the girl's side and patted her back. "Freaking out isn't going to help anybody."

"I know, but can you blame me?!" Melissa pointed at the window. "Just look through the window and you'll see why I can't help but freak out!"

All Might obliged, and as soon as he saw through the window, his reaction was nowhere near as extreme as Melissa had expected. Sure, he looked shocked, but that was about it.

"The Hero Killer's here?" All Might scratched his chin. "But how could that be possible? His last known location was nowhere near U.A.'s location."

"Who cares how he got here?! What matters is the fact that he's even here!" Melissa exclaimed, flailing her arms. "If the Hero Killer is here, then that can only mean one thing!"

All Might's eyes widened. "He's here to kill heroes!"

Melissa rolled her eyes. "No, Uncle Might, he's here to sell real estate!"

The man blinked as he took a step back, caught off-guard by the rather snarky response handed by the inheritor. She promptly realized what she said and took a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry, Uncle Might, I'm just so scared right now! I never thought something like this would happen while I was at school, heck, I never thought it would've happened during my _first week_!"

All Might put a hand on her shoulder. "Melissa, I told you that this could happen any time when I asked you to inherit One for All-"

"Uncle Might, we _both_ know I rushed this decision," Melissa folded her arms. "I was doing good with my inventions until you appeared at my doorstep, and offered me to inherit your Quirk, and... I tried to give it some thought, I really did, but now, I'm wondering if I gave it enough."

All Might put his remaining hand on Melissa's remaining shoulder. "Even if you rushed it, Gran Torino prepared you for this kind of situation far better than I ever could. And you got the arm brace too, right?"

Melissa smiled sheepishly. "I kinda used it once this morning to try and clear the sky."

"Good, then it should still be able to go all out twice before it gets destroyed," All Might separated from Melissa and assumed his buff form. "Meanwhile, I'll see if Principal Nezu can help me maintain my buff form so I can take care of this problem myself."

"But until then," Melissa looked at her fist. "It'll be up to me?"

"Well, you and the teachers that show up to help," All Might pointed out. "Anyway, I gotta go. Get ready, and be careful."

"S-Sure."

The muscular man walked to the door unlocked it, pausing as he grabbed the doorknob.

"Oh, and Young Melissa?"

The girl turned to the man, and received a flashy thumbs up and toothy smile.

"Good luck."

Melissa nodded with a smile. "Same, Uncle Might."

The man left, and Melissa took the moment to open her bag and take out the arm brace. She equipped the brace, and clenched her fist, causing yellow electricity to surge through the brace.

Guess I'll get to test this thing in a battle...

* * *

Hatsume was _this_ close to shitting bricks.

Not only had the security at U.A. been trespassed, something that wasn't thought possible once the upgrades had been made, but the trespasser was none other than the guy who blinded her, Hero Killer Stain.

Even as she walked with Mineta at the far end of the evacuating group of students, her legs shook and she wobbled all over the place, almost tripping over the tiny boy in one instance.

"Calm down, Hatsume, everything's going to be alright," the purple dwarf told his senior, hoping to ease her worries. "The teachers are pro-heroes, and they'll go out and take care of the trespasser while we evacuate."

"You don't understand, Mineta," Hatsume clutched her chest. "This isn't just any ordinary trespasser. It's Stain, the Hero Killer!"

Hatsume was very glad she was at the end of the group, otherwise they might've heard her and begun panicking. Mineta, however, was unfortunate enough to actually hear it.

"In that case, they might actually be in more danger than I thought," he quickly shook such negative thoughts away. "B-But don't worry, the teachers are super strong! Besides, even if he got past the teachers, he'd only go after the hero course students!"

Hatsume stopped and shook her head. "Mineta..."

The boy stopped and turned to the cyborg engineer.

"Why do you think I have mechanical eyes?"

The boy didn't quite understand the point of the question, but once he gave it a little bit of thought, he slowly put two and two together... and grimaced at the implications.

And then Hatsume began walking again and dragged him with her.

"Let's get going, otherwise we'll be left behind..."

Mineta silently nodded, and as they walked, he frowned with concern.

_Hatsume..._

* * *

Midoriya scratched his head. One way or another, he was sensing that Hatsume was feeling distressed and scared. But there was no way that could be possible, right? Even if his Quirk gave him the ability to sense one person's emotional state, why would it be Hatsume?

He knew he said he'd be there to protect her, but he couldn't exactly do that while he was evacuating alongside his peers of Class 1-B.

"Alright everybody, stay close and don't split!" Kendo, leading the crowd, shouted. "We'll be reaching the exit fairly soon!"

Vlad King had left with some other teachers to try deal with the trespasser, so Kendo had been left in charge of evacuating the class. She was doing a pretty decent job, judging by how everybody followed her lead no questions asked.

"Hey, isn't that the girl from 1-A?" Shiozaki, who stood next to Midoriya, inquired.

The boy almost wanted to point out how vague the question was before he turned around and saw the girl in question. It was Mina Ashido, who looked at her surroundings before she went downstairs.

"Midoriya, I feel like she's up to something," Shiozaki clasped her hands. "This might sound bad to you, but could you see what she's doing? I'll cover for you."

Did Midoriya hear that right? Shiozaki, who up until this point had been shown to be somewhat abrasive, was now asking him to check on someone, and was even willing to cover for him in case his absence was noticed?

Well, the boy was curious about what Mina was doing, so...

"Alright, thanks Shiozaki."

The vine-haired girl nodded, and the boy separated from the group, power walking fast enough down the stairs to find Mina leaning against a corner of the wall, touching something on her ear.

And a new layer of his Quirk must've awakened, because despite her whispering, he managed to hear her clearly:

"Stain, how's your situation?"

Midoriya's eyes widened.

* * *

"Meh, it could be better."

The Hero Killer swiftly dodged Eraserhead's scarf, and Present Mic's titanic "YEAH!" at the same time. He tried to dash forward to them, but Midnight appeared in front of him and released her sleeping gas, forcing the vigilante to back away.

This, however, brought him right to Vlad King's arms, who promptly used his Quirk to trap both of them into a blood-made jacket. This, in turn, prompted Stain to touch his arm with his glove... which had a pink palm?

With the pink underside causing part of the blood to melt, and the pain to make Vlad King release the both of them. This let Stain jump to and rest on a tree.

"I'm getting overwhelmed, but the gadgets made with your Quirk are making it a lot less of a hassle," Stain said, looking at his pink-palmed glove. "How are you doing on your end?"

No response.

"Ashido?"

* * *

"_Ashido, can you hear-_"

*CRACK!*

Midoriya kicked the remains of the earpiece away while locking hands with Mina, his eyes glaring right into her own as he sternly asked:

"Ashido... why were you talking with Stain just now?"

The girl's shocked expression soon contorted into a grin of malice, and a second later she began overpowering Midoriya.

"You're a smart guy, Midoriya. I'm pretty sure you can figure it out on your own."

Midoriya tried to overpower Mina again, but she proved to have just enough strength to lock them both into a stalemate.

"Don't tell me... you and Stain are in cahoots?"

Mine began moving, and the guy couldn't help but move as well.

"Cahoots? Oh no, Midoriya," her smirk widened. "I'm not just in cahoots with him."

By the time they stopped, Midoriya turned back to see they were facing the other staircase, this one leading down to what looked like a window.

"I'm his apprentice!"

Mina pushed Midoriya forward, and the boy screamed as he hit the ground with a loud *THUD*

* * *

"Izuku!"

Hatsume and Mineta stopped on their tracks, the former covering her mouth and looking at the ground. That was the first time, consciously or otherwise, that she had called Midoriya by his first name, but the real thing that caught her attention was the fact she had sensed the fact Midoriya was in pain at all.

"Who's Izuku?" Mineta asked.

"I-It's Midoriya's first name," Hatsume answered, earning a confused look from Mineta. "The guy with green hair whose Quirk gives him swan wings, you saw him at the house when I got my eyes."

"Oh, that guy. You think he's in problems?"

"I can _sense_ he's in danger, but I don't know how that's even possible!"

"Maybe it has something to do with that glowing feather on your hair?"

Flinching, Hatsume reached for her hair and took out the feather, lowering it to her face to see that yes, it was indeed glowing. Except it wasn't constant: the feather glowed for a moment, before turning back to normal, then glowed again, then back to normal, rinse and repeat until Hatsume made a horrific conclusion.

"He's in danger!"

* * *

Midoriya groaned as he rubbed his back, moments before Mina walked up to him, grabbed him by the neck and lifted him.

"I'm sorry that I have to do this, Midoriya, I really am," Mina spoke without a hint of dishonesty. "But you have to understand that Stain needs to give a message to the generation of fakers in this school."

Mina threw Midoriya away, and the boy weakly stood up. "Generation of fakers? What are you even talking about? How did you even become Stain's apprentice?!"

Mina took a deep breath and folded her arms as she slowly walked to Midoriya:

"Imagine this: a little girl is born in a town that doesn't like mutants. Though her Quirk is an Emitter, her wild looks gets her discriminated as a "Fake Mutant". Eventually, her parents are forced to kick her out when the discrimination reaches dangerous levels, and the girl is left alone, no money, no family, nothing but the clothes she wears, to survive in a world that has already rejected her."

Midoriya flinched, the story sounding eerily similar to his own life story. Sure, he wasn't kicked out of the house, but the discrimination? Even if he was being told rather than shown, his decade of bullying made him get a general picture of what Mina had gone through.

"She pleads constantly, hoping to find just one person, not even a Hero, just a _person_, who'll accept her for who she is and give her the home that her city denied her."

Mina stopped right in front of Midoriya, her eyes forming a furious expression.

"Nobody listens, except for one individual."

She grabbed Midoriyas collar.

"Hero Killer Stain."

She threw Midoriya to the ground, and wrapped his arm behind his back.

"He takes her in, and teachers her the ways of the world: How all heroes except All Might are fakers who only care about fame, money, or other unheroic ideals like love. He teaches her how in this world, heroism has gone from being a honorable concept, into a mere gimmick, made to further motivate the fakers."

Mina rolled up Midoriya's sleeve, and pressed her fingertips on his arms, releasing a mild acid as she continued.

"He teachers how, if she wants to have a home, if she wants to get back everything the heroes couldn't get back for her, that she'll need to learn his ways in order to take it back by herself. And he only asks one thing in exchange..."

Mina increased the severity of the acid, causing Midoriya to scream in pain.

"Help him spread his message through any means necessary: determining the best place to attack, determining which fake hero needs to die next..."

Mina began giggling, though in a twisted way, it seemed like she was crying as well.

"Even going so far as to attack students, heroes or otherwise."

It was this statement that caused Midoriya to stop screaming. His rage slowly surfaced as he turned to flash a glare at Mina, his eyes glowing orange. Even so, this wasn't enough to get the girl to stop her assault.

"Stain attacked and blinded Hatsume ten months before the entrance exam..."

His eyes diluted.

"Did... You..."

Mina flashed a horrific hybrid between a smile and a frown.

"I gave him the suggestion, and he executed it quite magnificently, if I do say so myself."

In that moment, something snapped inside Midoriya. His eyes slowly grew bigger until his entire eye had been covered in an orange color, his pupils disappearing soon after to turn his eyes completely orange.

His wings burst from his back, hitting Mina hard enough to send her flying into the wall. His back freed, the boy stood up as his wings spread wide...

But they didn't vanish.

His form continued to change: his skin slowly turned pearly white, as well as his hair, and he gained black rings on his neck, hair, and hands as he twitched, and turned back to the acidic girl.

The final change was his nose turning orange, and barely a second later, he roared an unholy screech as his left wing disappeared, and his left arm glowed.

Reacting as fast as she could, Mina slid away moments before the fist connected, causing Midoriya to hit the window and shatter it completely.

_Holy shit! He destroyed the window with a single punch?!_

Midoriya turned to Mina and threw another left punch, this one hitting her so hard she was sent flying straight into the end of the hallway, knocking some lockers over.

Once she hit the ground, Mina spat out something, and she grimaced as soon as she saw it was blood. To further confirm it, she wiped off some of the stuff off her mouth, and took a closer look at it.

Yup, it was definitely blood.

_So his punch is also strong enough to make me draw blood..._

Mina stood up and glared at the transformed guy.

_Just what the hell are you, Izuku Midoriya!?_

In that same moment, Hatsume and Mineta arrived at the second floor and looked around, quickly finding the sight of Midoriya about to rush towards Mina, who had her palms open.

"Uh, Hatsume, I don't think Midoriya's in danger anymore," the purple dwarf remarked.

Hatsume, however, could notice the little smirk in Mina's face as steam came out of her hands. She definitely had a plan, and whatever it was, it counted on Midoriya rushing right at her...

She turned to Midoriya, and saw the guy's transformed, berserk state, making it all but certain that he'd fall for the trap. Especially as he took a couple of heavy breaths before unleashing his horrific screech.

Midoriya's wings disappeared, and his legs glowed, right before he rushed straight for Mina. He ran at a speed much faster than he had shown previously, but this only made Mina smirk wider. She spread her arms further and aimed them forward...

"IZUKU!"

Suddenly, time froze, and the enraged guy stopped as he felt a body wrapping itself around him... in a hug. He moved his hands towards the mass that was hugging close to him, and to his shock, the mass slowly gained a familiar shape.

"Hat...Su...Me?"

Once her shape had been identified, the formless mass shifted to resemble Hatsume, who was looking at the enraged Midoriya with a look of worry.

"Yes, Izuku, it's me, Hatsume."

Midoriya lowered his arms until they reached the girl's back, which he gripped tightly. "Pro...Tect..."

"Yes, you protected me... and I'm grateful for it..." Hatsume sighed. "But it's time to back down-"

"No!" Midoriya exclaimed, his anger resurfacing. "Not yet! Not until Ashido-!"

"Cripples you!?"

The guy flinched and looked back at Hatsume's expression. She was still scared, but now there was a hint of angered concern in her expression.

"She has already proven to be willing to hurt your own classmates just to make a point! I don't know what's up with her and Stain, but you can't deny that if they have a connection, then there's a chance she could cripple you just as Stain crippled me!"

Mina smirked. "Now_ that's_ an idea."

Midoriya's anger began to resurface, but Hatsume hugged him harder.

"Izuku, please, it's not worth it... let's just evacuate like everyone else, we can deal with this another day. Just not today."

Hearing the genuine sorrow in the girl's tone, Midoriya's form slowly turned back to his base as he returned the hug, and patted her back twice.

"Alright, Hatsume, lead the way."

Mina chuckled, getting the irritated attention of the duo. "Seriously? You're asking the _functionally_ _blind_ girl to lead you?"

The duo glared at Mina for a second before they turned around and began walking away, Hatsume taking the lead while Midoriya took a moment to throw one last glare at Mina.

And with this glare, a message was given very clearly to the pink-skinned acidic gal:

The next time they met, _nothing_ would stop Midoriya from making her pay for what she'd done.

Absolutely _nothing_.

* * *

"Principal Nezu!"

The small mysterious critter turned to the door to see All Might catching his breath before turning back into his emancipated form.

"Ah, All Might, I was just expecting you," Nezu calmly, almost nonchalantly remarked. "I'm going to guess you're here to discuss what to do about this trespasser?"

"This isn't just any trespasser, Principal Nezu, it's Stain!" All Might stated. "If he gets past my coworkers, he could-"

"Relax, All Might, he won't get anywhere," Nezu took a sip of his tea. "But I can see worry still covers your face, so I've got something to help you deal with him."

The white critter got off his desk and opened a drawer, from where he took out a small black box.

"Now, All Might, this gadget I'm going to give you is a very rare, one-of-a-kind object, and unless we can get its creator to return to the world of support, it might never be replicated."

All Might raised an eyebrow. "And why's that?"

Nezu opened the box.

"Because it's the last support item created by Inko Midoriya before her retirement."


	10. Melissa Ex Machina

All Might was stunned. He wasn't quite sure what to expect to see from Inko Midoriya's final gadget, but he was pretty sure that if they called it a "gadget", that it would be some kind of mechanical object: a brace for his arm, some headband that could protect against mental attacks, something like that.

So why, instead of a gadget, was a pair of pills inside the box?

"Principal Nezu, was your tea spiked?"

The critter laughed out loud. "No, but I don't blame you for your reaction. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm calling these simple pills a gadget?"

The man nodded.

"You see, All Might, these pills are classified as gadgets because they're actually an amalgamation of power and energy-enhancing materials from destroyed gadgets. They're safe to consume, but take a couple minutes to take effect."

All Might took a closer look at the pills. "So, if I take these pills, will I get enough power to repel back the Hero Killer?"

Nezu nodded. "But the pills won't work for long, and once their effect's finished, you'll be locked on your weakened form for 24 hours."

All Might nearly dropped the pills in shock. "T-That's way too big of a risk to take!"

"And sending Melissa Shield to distract the Hero Killer _wasn't_ a big risk?"

All Might, but quickly regained his composure. Of course the principal knew what he did, he was practically the smartest thing in the world, how wouldn't he know?

"If you want, we can cancel the classes you would've given today until the effect of the pills has worn off, and you can return to your buff form," Nezu scratched his chin. "Although, considering our school was trespassed by a serial killer, we may need to cancel the rest of the day in order to improve our defenses."

Nezu shrugged. "Anyway, take the pills now, and in a few minutes, you should gain enough power to deal with the Hero Killer."

All Might took a deep breath, grabbed a cup of tea served by Nezu, and he swallowed the pills before he sat down and waited for them to take effect.

"I just hope these pills take effect before that guy hurts Melissa too badly."

"She'll manage him on her own," Nezu put her arms behind his back. "After all, you picked her as the ninth inheritor of One for All for a reason."

All Might smiled wide. "Yes, I did."

* * *

Stain took a breath of disappointment at the teachers of U.A., some who were tied up in Eraserhead's scarf, while the rest stood back, catching their breath with burn marks on their outfits.

"This is truly saddening," the hero killer stated. "To have so many fakers try and fail to prove their worth in this world of heroes. People like you are an insult to heroism."

"Says the guy who goes around killing heroes." Eraserhead stated sternly.

Stain huffed. "I don't kill "heroes", I kill "fakers" who spread a bad name of heroism to the masses."

Then, he brandished his knives. "Which, in fact, sounds like a very aft description of all of you right now..."

"Hero Killer Stain!"

Suddenly, someone jumped off from the second floor and landed right in front of the damaged teachers.

This someone was Melissa, still in her uniform but wearing her arm brace.

"Who are you?" Stain sternly asked. "And why have you come for the said of these fakers?"

"I'm Melissa Shield," Melissa answered as she clenched her fists. "As for why I'm here, well..."

Melissa smiled as she took a battle stance.

"Aren't heroes supposed to put their lives on the line for the sake of others?"

_This one..._ Stain smirked. _This one is a real hero!_

Melissa sprung forward and shot a punch, which Stain blocked with his swords. They got slightly cracked from impact, which sent Stain slightly far away, but not much else happened after that.

"It is sad to think that I have to hurt you, maybe even kill you," Stain said with a smile. "Your words and actions are proving to be more heroic than the fakers behind you."

Melissa raised an amused eyebrow. "Well, thank you, but I'm afraid that's not going to deter me from giving you a fistful of justice!"

Melissa sprung forward again and threw another punch, this one being dodged by the hero killer. He gripped his damaged sword and swung it, but Melissa simply kicked the blade hard enough to snap it in two, the sharp point landing far away.

Stain quickly swung his other sword, but Melissa jumped over it and swung her kick down, hitting Stain right in the head. However, the hero killer simply pushed Melissa back and threw some knives at her, which she dodged with a roll and a couple jumps.

Except for the last one.

"Ouch!"

Stain bolted straight for the knife, grabbed it, and put it close to his mouth as he revealed his tongue.

_Ew! He's going to lick that after it was on the ground?! Wait a minute, he's heading for the bloodied part..._

Sensing danger, Melissa dashed for Stain and kicked the bloodied knife away, before jumping away from his blade swing. She didn't get far before her wound acted up and made her drop to the ground, though.

"Impressive," Stain flashed a smile. "You figured out my Quirk requires me to ingest a person's blood, so you sped up and stopped me from consuming it."

_Actually, I never thought that had anything to do with your Quirk, I just thought you were a weirdo._ Is what Melissa wanted to say, but... "Y-Yeah, that's right! You're nowhere near as subtle as you think you are!"

"Selfless and intuitive, you really are worthy of being a hero," Stain took a deep breath. "It truly is sad that fate decided we have to fight."

Undeterred by his words, Melissa ran towards Stain and threw another punch... only for it be caught by Stain, whose gauntlet's acidic underside caused Melissa to scream in pain as she backed away and clutched her hand.

"I'm sorry that I have to pull such a dirty trick on a genuine hero such as yourself," Stain remarked as he lowered his gauntlet. "But I need to send a message to the world of heroics."

_Those gauntlets... they have a similar acidic property like Mina's..._ Melissa grimaced. _Wait, could that mean..._

Hearing the sound of a metal being picked up, Melissa bolted straight for Stain and, enhancing her punch with One for All, she swung it and struck the blade so hard, it shattered to pieces.

With Stain distracted by the sudden attack, Melissa then moved her percentage of One for All from her fist to he leg, and kicked the hero killer hard enough to send him crashing right into a wall.

The pain on her leg acted up, though, and she dispersed One for All as she got on her knees.

And then Stain came out of the wall, saw it crack and create an opening... then ignored it and walked towards Melissa.

_He's not going into the school? Isn't that the reason he's here?_ Melissa shook her head. "S-Stain! Where did you get those gauntlets?!"

The serial killer stopped and looked at his gauntlets. "These? They're normal gauntlets my apprentice modified so their underside had the same ability as herself."

The teachers' eyes widened, and Melissa began shaking as she quickly processed what that meant.

"Mina... is your apprentice?"

* * *

"It appears the cat is out of the bag," Nezu remarked, looking at the. "Stain has revealed the identity of his inside agent."

"Stain had an inside agent in the school?!" All Might asked, earning a nod from the critter. "W-Who is it?!"

Nezu took a sip of his tea. "Mina Ashido."

All Might felt a chill run down his spine. Young Ashido did seem a little more abrasive and antagonistic than his other students, but he figured it was the same case as with Young Bakugou: that she just so happened to have an abrasive personality despite her heroic ambitions.

Never would he have thought, let alone humored the idea, that she was actually the apprentice of the most infamous hero killer in Japan.

Now only one question remained. "What does this mean for Young Ashido?"

"She'll be detained and questioned about her relationship with Stain, as well as her goals," Nezu took another sip of his tea. "Depending on what she says, we might need to put her under rehabilitation at best, or expel her at worst."

All Might winced, but he understood. Even in the best case scenario, having Young Ashido run free simply wasn't an option, especially if a little idea All Might had that moment was true-

"Ugh!"

"Oh my," Nezu laughed. "It seems the pills are starting to take effect."

* * *

Melissa kept shaking as the Hero Killer arrived to her, and helped her stand up. Even so, he did nothing as the girl kept trembling, her eyes showing a vivid display of disbelief.

"I-It can't be true... M-Mina can't... y-you can't-"

"If it makes you feel better, true heroine, I didn't force her to do anything," Stain sighed, his tone lacking any hint of malice or dishonesty. "I found her on the streets, abandoned by her family and left to rot by the fake heroes of society."

Melissa kept trembling as Stain took out a knife. "I took her in, taught her the cruel ways of the world, and in return, she helped me better prepare myself to deal with the fakers that destroyed the innocent child she used to be."

_It... It can't be... even if the world is cruel... even if the world is tough... Mina couldn't... she wouldn't-_

Suddenly, Melissa dropped to the ground, finding her body almost completely paralyzed. She could at least get up, but that wasn't much comfort when she couldn't even stand fully straight up. Then she looked up... and saw Stain was holding a bloodied knife, retracting his tongue as he looked at her.

"W-What?"

"As a token of good faith, let me tell you what my Quirk actually does," Stain saved the knife and turned around. "By ingesting someone's blood, I can paralyze them for a set amount of time, with the resulting time depending on their blood type. The ones to stay paralyzed the longest are B types, followed by AB, A, and O as the one who recover the quickest."

Melissa cursed her blood type falling somewhere in the middle.

"And the longest anybody can stay paralyzed is 8 minutes," Stain turned to the captured teachers. "Now if you excuse me, I have to deal with the fakers who got lucky enough to get you as a student-"

"Not if I have something to say about it."

Stain flinched, and a smile soon formed on his face. "No way..."

Melissa raised her head, her eyes gaining a glimmer of hope. _Could it be...?_

Soon after, a titanic figure jumped off the top floor of the school, and landed in front of Stain, his muscular frame leaving little room for doubt what his identity was, despite him being covered in shadows.

"All Might!" the serial killer exclaimed in joy.

"U-Uncle Might," Melissa whispered, shedding a single tear.

Stain turned to face Melissa, shocked at hearing someone call All Might that, but he shook it off and turned back to the muscular behemoth. "All Might! It's truly a honor to meet!"

All Might said nothing, but he did glance at the defeated teachers, and narrowed his eyes.

"Go ahead, All Might! You're the only hero worth killing me!" Stain stated with giddy excitement. "Make me pay for what I've done today!"

"I will make you pay," All Might spoke, a slight reverb on his voice. "But I will not kill you."

Stain looked shocked at this statement, for about a second before he smiled and closed his eyes.

"Of course... of course you wouldn't kill me... you're the ultimate hero, after all."

All Might reeled his fist back. "I will send you to Tartarus now."

Stain lowered his head. "Okay, do what you wish."

"Tartarus Smash!"

All Might shot his fist right at the serial killer, and he was sent flying, presumably straight to the prison named Tartarus. With him gone, he looked at Melissa, helped her stand up, and hugged her.

"U-Uncle Might... S-Stain h-had an i-inside agent..." Melissa said, trying to fight back the paralysis so she could return the hug. "I-It... It w-was-"

"Young Ashido, I know," All Might responded. "Principal Nezu figured it out a moment ago, and he went to detain Young Ashido personally."

"H-He was watching?" Melissa frowned. "W-What about... t-the students?"

"They evacuated," All Might's form began releasing steam. "They're all safe now... everybody's safe now..."

Melissa noticed the steam, and grew concerned. "Uncle Might?"

Suddenly, All Might burst, releasing a steam cloud that covered both himself and Melissa. The cloud dissipated shortly after, revealing that despite the transformation, he was still hugging Melissa...

Except he was back in his skeletal form now.

"UNCLE MIGHT!"


	11. Calm After the Storm

"Mhm... yeah... alright, thanks for letting me know."

*CLICK*

All Might took a deep breath and sat down before scanning the room. He was currently in Melissa's apartment, with the girl herself, Hatsume, Midoriya, and Inko sharing the room with him. They all sat at the table, the remaining visitors and the room's owner staring at the man.

"Young Ashido has been successfully detained, and is being interrogated as we speak. Thanks to help from a student known as Hitoshi Shinsou, the principal believes she won't be able to lie her way through the interrogation."

Midoriya scratched his chin. Hitoshi Shinsou, that name sounded familiar...

Right! It was the boy whose Quirk announced itself through bells! If it could stop someone from lying, maybe those who heard the bells found themselves unable to lie for a given amount of time? Yeah, that sounded just about right.

"I still can't believe Mina was working with Stain all along," Melissa frowned and lowered her head. "I was looking at her since the first day of school, and I never even noticed."

"Young Melissa, I'm pretty sure everybody was caught off-guard by Young Ashido's relation with the hero killer."

"Especially me," Midoriya blurted. "I mean, I was already wary of Mina because of how she hurt Kendo, but this just came completely out of the blue!"

"Speaking of that, I saw you fighting her in... a honestly terrifying form," Hatsume spoke, getting everyone's attention. "What exactly happened that turned you into that white, screeching monster?"

Midoriya lowered his head and took a deep breath. "Okay, so, I caught Mina talking with Stain through an earpiece, I asked her what was going on, she pushed me back and down the stairs."

Melissa covered her mouth, while Inko and Hatsume grimaced. All Might looked shocked for a moment before he regained his composure. "What happened next?"

"She told me about what her life was like before U.A. How she was kicked out of her house and how nobody, not even heroes, came to her aid."

All Might lowered his head and shook his head. He certainly knew that there were heroes who weren't exactly... heroic, but to think there would be heroes who would turn away at the sight of an abandoned child...

"Then, she told me how Stain found her, took her in, and taught her his messed up worldview. And then, she said the thing that caused me to transform into that thing."

Midoriya paused, and turned to Hatsume. "The reason Stain attacked you and blinded you? It was Mina's idea."

Hatsume's eyes widened in disbelief, while All Might, Melissa, and Inko exchanged horrified looks.

"When she told me that, something snapped inside of me," Midoriya looked at his hand. "I felt such an unyielded rage, such an unbridled fury, that I let out a screech and just, completely lost control of myself... until you... hugged me out of it."

Hatsume laughed as she and Midoriya blushed at the memory. Inko and Melissa exchanged, while All Might raised an eyebrow. "What happened after that?"

"We evacuated with the rest of our classmates while the teachers took care of the hero killer," Hatsume scratched her head. "Although we were told they were helped by a student before All Might arrived and sent him straight to Tartarus.

Melissa chuckled nervously. "Yeah, um... that student was me."

Everyone gasped, except All Might, who facepalmed. "You really hate keeping secrets, don't you?"

"Loathe it, in fact," Melissa quipped, getting an odd look from Midoriya. "Anyway, to explain myself, I was sent there by Uncle Might's orders-"

"YOU TOLD MY LITTLE MELISSA TO DO WHAT!?" Inko snapped, standing up and using her shoe as a club to repeatedly hit the unfazed All Might. "WHY WOULD YOU SEND HER TO DO SOMETHING SO DANGEROUS, YOU DINOSAUR!"

"Melissa, do you want to explain this, or should I?!" All Might asked, trying to block Inko's shoe barrage.

Inko stopped her assault and everybody turned to Melissa, who inhaled deeply and explained:

"Uncle Might suffered a devastating injury while fighting his archnemesis years ago, now the left side of his body is severely damaged, and some of his internal organs are broken beyond repair. With his failing health, he's been looking for someone to inherit his Quirk, inherit his role as the Symbol of Peace... and that inheritor is me."

Midoriya's eyes widened. "W-Wait a minute, so, you're telling me, that All Might gave you his Quirk? How's that even possible?!"

"Long story short, my Quirk is one that has been passed down from generation to generation, building on its power in order to become the ultimate weapon to keep peace in the world, and destroy the ultimate villain," All Might turned to Melissa and smiled. "With my failing health, I had to find someone to inherit One for All, and continue my work. And after saving Young Midoriya, I remember a young Quirkless girl I met many years ago, and I asked her if she'd be willing to take my Quirk."

Melissa blushed and smiled. "And she said yes. Admittedly without thinking things too well, but she still said yes."

Then, the emanciated man turned to Midoriya. "But of course, I also have to give you credit, Young Midoriya. I wouldn't have even thought of asking Young Melissa to inherit One for All if it wasn't for you."

"Really? How?"

"You said it yourself, didn't you? "What's the point of giving power to someone who already has power? Why not give power to someone who's powerless" I think."

It was that comment that made Midoriya remember the first time he met All Might, right after he saved him from falling after his wings vanished, and mere seconds after appearing for the first time too. He remembers asking him what he thought of Quirkless people, how he said he thought they were awesome, and then his ridiculous question of what he'd do if he found a way to give a Quirkless person a Quirk.

Well, given the current situation, it wasn't really that ridiculous anymore.

"Wait, there's something I still don't get," Hatsume blurted. "If Melissa inheritted All Might's Quirk, how come All Might still seems to have his Quirk? Did he just give her a piece of it?"

"No, she inheritted the whole thing, I'm just running on leftover embers," All Might hastily explained. "Anyway, Young Melissa, could you please continue?"

"Right, so, I fought Stain to a standstill, and eventually he paralyzed me with his Quirk. That was when Uncle Might, in a super buff form covered in shadows, appeared out of nowhere and punched the villain straight to Tartarus!"

"Yeah, what was that form all about?" Hatsume asked.

"I think I may know the answer," Inko turned to All Might. "Did you just so happen to take a pair of pills the principal called gadgets?"

"Yup, in fact, he said you were the one who made them."

Inko rubbed her forehead. "I told that polar mouse to ask me first before using any of my gadgets!"

"Well, Mrs. Midoriya, I think we can both agree that Principal Nezu just does whatever he wants, whenever he wants," All Might scratched the back of his head. "And, uh, he wanted me to ask you if you could make another pair-"

"Oh, so he uses my gadget without permission, but he can't even get enough courage to ask me himself to make another pair?" Inko rolled her eyes. "Is there anything else this dear "Principal Nezu" has decided to do on his own!?"

"I think that's the angriest I've ever seen you, Mom."

"She has reason to be angry, though." Hatsume stated, folding her arms.

"Yeah, any inventor that respects themselves would never approve of their inventions being used without their permission," Melissa added.

The girls exchanged understanding looks, and All Might butted in:

"Actually, there's one thing he decided to do."

Everyone turned to the lanky man, and he took a deep breath before revealing.

"He's going to move up the U.A. Sports Festival."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the dead of night, a humanoid figure sat on top of a large mansion, pulling the lotus position as the moon shined behind them.

"My lady."

The figure stood up and turned around to see a maid standing in the middle of the roof, holding a calm expression as she approached her.

"Your mother has requested me to take you to sleep. Tomorrow's a school day, and if your grades or performance were to drop-"

Suddenly, the figure spread a pair of pitch black wings with white tips, causing the maid to shut up. She promptly retracted her wings, and stood up.

"I understand her concern. I'll go to sleep soon. Just let me meditate a little longer."

The figure turned around, the moonlight shining on half of her face to reveal a long bang, a large black ponytail, a black neck, and red eyes.

"I want to mentally prepare myself for whatever comes next."


	12. Back to Normal

Midoriya, Hatsume, and Melissa sat down at the train heading to U.A., the trio looking at the ceiling as they thought about the upcoming sports festival.

"The U.A. Sports Festival," Midoriya remarked. "I still can't believe we're going to have one of those in only two weeks."

"And I can't believe your Mom not only beat up All Might with a shoe, but said all of those things to the principal! " Hatsume folded her arms. "Your Mom's freaking amazing, Midoriya."

"Hey, sorry to butt in, but I have a question," Melissa blurted. "This might make you think lesser of me, but what exactly _is_ the U.A. Sports Festival?"

"Well, if I remember correctly-"

"Hatsume, let me explain it," Midoriya told the pink-haired girl before turning to Melissa. "The U.A. Sports Festival is an annual event where the first, second, and third years of all courses of U.A., compete in a series of events in order to show the heroes of the world what they're capable of."

Melissa chirped up. "Oh, so it's like a publicity stunt for the students?"

Hatsume flashed a thumbs up and nodded, while Midoriya scratched the back of his head and shook it. The confusion coming from Melissa made her ask an additional question:

"Well, what exactly happens in it?"

"The Sports Festival is divided in three events: two random ones, and a final event that's a tournament between the last sixteen students," Midoriya answered. "The students who get in the first, second, and third place get a medal delivered by a hero, while everybody else gets bragging rights."

"Which is the best kind of rights in my opinion!" Hatsume beamed. "Although, you probably won't get to know what they feel like."

"Why's that?"

"Because you're obviously going to ace the entire thing."

Melissa blinked twice.

"I mean, think abou this: you have one of the strongest Quirks I've ever seen! And I think Midoriya can agree with me that even with his transformed state, he wouldn't be a match for you."

"To be fair, my transformed state is still imperfected, and I need to get a better handle for it," Midoriya argued, scratching the back of his head. "I still agree thought: I feel like, even with a transformation I can decently control, I wouldn't be able to beat you."

Melissa slyly smiled and got an idea, which she whispered to Midoriya's ear.

"Well, guess once you get a better handle of it, we should give your theory a shot."

The train stopped, and Melissa was the first to leave, followed by Midoriya and Hatsume. The duo remained right at the gate, while Melissa continued to walk, folding her arms behind her back and, unbestknown to the duo, holding a smile on her face.

"Hey, Midoriya, what did Melissa tell you?"

"She told me that once I get a better handle of my transformation, that we should test my theory that I wouldn't be able to beat her," Midoriya scratched his chin. "I think that means she wants me to fight her in my transformed state."

"Well, technically speaking, she got her Quirk because of you, so maybe that's her way of thanking you for it?" Hatsume shrugged. "That's just an idea. Anyway, I should get going; Power Loader's going to get mad if I arrive late."

"Hatsume, wait!"

The girl stopped and turned to the boy.

"Before you leave... could I ask you to make me a gadget?"

She smiled. "What kind of gadget?"

"Something like a pair of boots that can let me jump real high," Midoriya scratched his head. "I-I'd like to get something that can help me remove the limitation of having to jump off a high altitude to activate my Quirk. But, if you can't-"

"That sounds like a fun challenge!" Hatsume flashed a grin and gave the guy a thumbs up. "Consider it done! I should have it finished in a week, provided nothing else comes up!"

Midoriya smiled and blushed a little. "Thanks, Hatsume."

The girl gave the guy an approving nod and strolled into the school. Midoriya remained in place for a moment to behold Hatsume's cheerful figure, and enjoy the fact that the girl was smiling and just being happy in general after so long...

And then a voice spoke:

"You like her, don't you?"

Midoriya turned around, flashing a look of pure hatred as he saw none other than Mina Ashido standing behind him, sporting a cocky smile. She had a slightly different uniform, too: instead of wearing a white shirt, she was wearing a red one.

"There's no need to try to hide it: you're as subtle as a rabbit in heat."

Midoriya fully turned around and took a deep breath. "What are you doing here, Ashido?"

"Isn't it obvious? I study here in order to become a hero," Mina scoffed. "After all, wouldn't it be poetic? The apprentice of a person who only believes in true heroes goes to school with a bunch of fakers, and ends up graduating a true hero-"

"Why weren't you expelled!" Midoriya suddenly shouted. "Not only did you hurt one of my classmates, but you brought the Hero Killer himself to campus! You should've been kicked out of U.A. for those facts alone!"

Mina walked forward, and Midoriya took a step back. This continued until Midoriya got pinned next to the wall, and Mina slammed her hand next to him.

"Yeah, I could've been kicked out, and then I would go on a bloody rampage, killing fake heroes left and right, to try and satiate the furious bloodlust within me, which awakened because of the fact that the only person that ever treated me with kindness, the only person I've been able to see as my family, got taken away from me!"

Though startled, Midoriya didn't stand down and kept glaring at the girl, who calmed down and took a deep breath before she backed down.

"Listen, Midoriya, you may not have noticed but I'm actually a little remorseful for what happened."

Midoriya didn't budge, so Mina backed away further and saved her hands in her pockets and explained further:

"When I told Stain to go hunt a supporter, I wasn't actually expecting him to go through with it. After all, I was effectively telling him to go after an innocent teenager, I never thought he'd do it. Sadly, I was wrong."

"But you said that when he did it, he did it quite well," Midoriya narrowed his eyes. "So even if you feel sorry for it, you still enjoyed it to an extent, didn't you?!"

Mina smirked. "I'd be lying if I said the idea of someone being willing to go so far as to cripple and maybe kill another person, just because I asked them, didn't bring a smile to my face."

Midoriya huffed and walked through the gate, keeping his pace steady as he heard Mina shout:

"Hey! It's rude to leave a beautiful girl talking!"

The guy turned around to tell something to her face, but he was instead met by a smug smirk, confirming she said that stuff just to get a rise out of him. Not wanting to fall into another trap, Midoriya closed his eyes, covered his ears, and began walking faster.

And then he bumped into someone.

"S-Sorry, I wasn't-"

The boy flinched when he heard something spread, and waited a couple seconds before he opened his eyes, and saw that he had crashed into what looked like a tall girl, at least from what he could see beyond the larged black wings spread wide.

Her black wings retracted, and she turned around to face the boy.

Her most striking features were her black neck in an otherwise normal skin, red piercing eyes, large ponytail with a long bang, and her black wings with white tips.

_Her wings and her neck... does she have a black swan Quirk?_

"They're a result of a mutation."

Midoriya flinched. "What?"

"You asked if I have a black swan Quirk," the girl clarified, her calm expression unchanging. "In truth, both the wings and my neck are the result of a mutation one of my ancestors possessed. My Quirk is something entirely different."

Oh, that must means he was mumbling the entire time. Classic Midoriya. "Oh, uh, okay, thanks for letting me know."

"You really shouldn't cheat on your girlfriend like that!" Mina cooed as she strolled past the duo.

The boy shot a glare at Mina, but the tall girl grabbed his chin and made him look at her. "Don't pay attention to her, she just wants to mess with you. How about we change the topic, and try to forget she was here?"

Midoriya nodded. "I'm Izuku Midoriya."

The girl smiled. "Momo Yaoyorozu."

* * *

Hatsume hummed a familiar tune as she connected pieces after pieces of scrap, all while also taking a moment to mix and match some chemicals in order to create fuel for whatever she was making.

"Hatsume, what are you doing?"

The gadgeteer turned around, and saw her teacher: A man wearing a dinosaur-themed suit, Power Loader.

"Oh, hi, Power Loader!" she chirped. "Sorry, I'm just so excited that I started making random stuff again! I mean, I can see everything so clearly now! Nothing's a variety of shades of stinking pink anymore, I'm ecstatic!"

"And I'm happy for you, but you can't use the school resources to do random stuff," Power Loader said before putting down a group of clearly unfinished gadgets. "Catch up with the assignments you couldn't finish before thanks to your "pink sight overload" and then you can do whatever you want."

"Oh, actually, Power Loader, I was wondering if I could-"

"Finish your assignments first, Hatsume. Then we'll discuss if you can do something else."

Guess Midoriya's gadget would take a little longer. But oh well, at least Hatsume was able to work effectively again! Nothing could ruin this day!"

"Hello, Hatsume!"

Her day just got ruined.

She turned around, and there she was: Mina Ashido. The girl practically responsible for her needing mechanical eyes in the first place. She had to admit, the red shirt she now wore instead of the white one complimented her pink... everything.

This didn't stop her from stopping what she was doing and stomping up to the pink girl enraged. "You have a lot of nerve to set foot here while I'm working!"

"Oh, Hatsume," Mina giggled. "It's precisely _because _you're here that I set foot in the first place. I need you to make a gadget for me."

Mina took out some blueprints from her back and showed them to Hatsume, who snatched them and opened them to see what the heck the pink girl wanted. Once she did, though, she couldn't help but feel confused. "Is this really something you want?"

"Of course not, silly," Mina rolled her eyes. "The school wants me to wear that thing as a part of my "rehabilitation" until they think I'm trustworthy enough to be left alone. Until then, though, I need to wear that gadget, and I need _you_ to make it."

Hatsume lowered her eyelids. "Because, since I was attacked by Stain thanks to you, limiting your powers with this gadget could be considered a type of karma."

"And that's always a delicious thing to deliver! But we both know that won't be enough," Mina clasped her hands and walked closer to Hatsume. "After everything that happened yesterday, simply limiting my powers won't make you happy, will they?"

Hatsume remained silent, so Mina continued, "You don't just want to limit my powers. You want to take them away. You want me to pay for every single thing I've done to you. You want me to suffer a horrible downfall, initiated by you and you alone, which you will watch with utter glee from your high throne, sitting next to your dear old boyfriend, Izuku Midoriya."

Hatsume flinched and, without thinking about it, slapped Mina. _Hard enough to leave a handprint_.

Though both girls and all two people in the support room were shocked by this action, Mina quickly recovered and smirked. "That's quite a good hand you got there. I bet if you were to hit Midoriya with it, he'd get the hint and stop cheating on you."

Hatsume honestly wanted to slap Mina again, but her curiosity overpowered her anger this time. "What are you talking about?"

"Shortly after you left him at the gate, I saw him talking with a girl from my class," Mina revealed, her smile gaining a hint of malice as she added, "And not just any girl: but a girl with black swan wings and a black neck."

"Another person with a swan-type Quirk?!" Hatsume pondered out loud.

Mina shook her head. "Not exactly; you see, the black neck and wings are a mutation she inheritted from one of her ancestors. Her actual Quirk is called Creation. It allows her to convert the lipids inside her body into objects, as long as she knows the atomic composition of said object. And also, this is going to sound really strange-"

Hatsume folded her arms; whatever strange thing Mina would say next, she was confident it wouldn't surprise her.

"She's both lightweight, yet heavyweight."

Hatsume was surprised.

"Okay, let me explain: because of her inheritted mutation, her bones are partially hollow and her body, in general, is lightweight. However, in order to make her Quirk somewhat useful, she has thicker layers of fat around her body, mostly on the nice places like chest and the butt, in order to make her heavyweight enough to possess enough lipids to make Creation somewhat useful."

Hatsume failed to see how that really explained anything, but this was something she'd felt much more comfortable talking to the actual user, rather than Stainette over here.

"Fine, I'll get your gadget done by the end of the day," she finally spoke. "Come to the support department before you leave once classes are over, okay?"

"Yup! Now, one more question before I leave!"

Hatsume groaned, what more could she even say? Just tick off and let the girl pick up the pieces of her life!

"It's about the Sports Festival."

Okay, now she definitely had her attention.

"You see, it's such an important event, and with all the world watching, I'm pretty sure both you and Midoriya are going to give it your all to reach the end and win the tournament, just like everyone else. But I wonder... would you be able to hurt him?"

Hatsume narrowed her eyes, and without thinking, hissed, "I can hurt you!"

"Ohoho, is that a challenge?" Mina asked in return, seemingly unfazed by the threat.

Hatsume calmed down enough to scan her surroundings: Mineta and Power Loader looking at her in shock, while Mina looked at her with a smug smile. After looking around a little more, she took a deep breath and turned to Mina.

"The Sports Festival is a chance to prove to the heroes of the world what we at U.A. are capable of. After Stain's attack, however, this particular festival is important, as it's our chance to show the world that even after an attack by the most infamous hero killer in Japan, we'll stand up and continue advancing to our ambitions-"

"That's not what I see. In fact, I don't think that's most people will see," Mina lowered her eyelids. "I think they, _like me_, will see this as U.A.'s poor attempt at trying to distract people from their failure to protect their students, by putting those same, still shell shocked students through a series of fights, in a hopeless attempt to try better prepare them for the next, inevitable assault."

Hatsume clenched her fist. "Whatever they think, this is our chance to prove that we-"

"We? Why are you talking in plural when the only person in this room that has anything to prove," Mina poked Hatsume's nose. "Is you?"

"That's enough, Ashido!" Power Loader exclaimed, butting in the conversation. "Go back to your classroom before I call Principal Nezu."

"Tsk, fine, Party Pooper," Mina turned back to Hatsume and smiled. "See you at the Sports Festival, Hatsume. I sure hope you put a good show."

Mina left the support room, and Power Loader took Hatsume back to her spot to work on her gadgets. Even then, she still looked at the door before she turned back to the unfinished contraptions, with one thing left clear in her mind: A singular goal.

Beat Mina at the Sports Festival.


	13. Dekubowl Gone Wrong

Class 1-A were about to head down for some Hero Basics training, and they were getting ready to head to the training ground.

Melissa Shield was only different in the sense that she decided to take some time to look at her reflection in her mirror, now with her hero costume equipped.

She wore a red, sleeveless bodysuit with golden highlights around her chest and legs, with silver, metallic kneecaps and shoulder pads. She wore a pair of white boots with red undersides, each possessing two jets that could release energy to allow her to fly, and red gauntlets with golden symbols on their sides. Finally, she had a red helmet with a white visor that covered her eyes, a pair of mechanical earmuffs attached at the sides, and a black choker that... was really just cosmetic.

"Still surprised?"

Melissa turned around and saw Uraraka, also in her hero costume, standing nearby and looking at her with a smile.

"Yeah, it's weird isn't it?" Melissa looked at her palm and clenched it. "I've wore this suit a couple of times already, and yet I still can't believe that I'm actually wearing it. Heck, I still can't believe I'm still part of the hero course at all!"

"It's okay, I thought this would happen after I read about you online," Uraraka replied, continuing as Melissa blushed slightly. "You were working to be an inventor so you could create stuff for heroes, so you probably never imagined yourself ever training to become one."

"You... read about me online?" Melissa pointed at herself.

"Yep! You're quite famous like that!" Uraraka grabbed Melissa's hand with her own. "And about the fact you still haven't gotten used to it, don't worry, that's not weird at all. It took me months to process the fact I got into the hero course at all."

Melissa smiled and nodded. "Thanks, that relieves me a little."

Uraraka released Melissa's hand and scanned her. "Your costume's really cool, too."

"Eh, I don't know, I feel like there's something missing," Melissa scanned Uraraka. "And besides, your hero costume isn't too shabby either."

"I know, right? And the best part of it is that I got to keep it without any of Yaoyorozu's modifications!" Uraraka proudly boasted. "Can you believe she wanted me to wear a bird mask?"

"I mean, a mask or something to protect your head and cover your face could be helpful, but a bird mask?" Melissa put her hands on her hips. "Speaking of her, what exactly is her hero costume anyway?"

Uraraka turned back and winced. "Well..."

Melissa turned, and she winced as well.

Yaoyorozu was wearing a black, sleeveless, backless halterneck dress with the belly exposed in a diamond cutout, black gloves with white fingers, black high heeled boots, and a black surgical mask that resembled a bird's beak. Tied to her waist was what looked like a dictionary,

"Yaoyorozu, I'm not one to talk, but what's up with your outfit?" Melissa couldn't help but ask as the bird-themed heroine walked to the duo. "Are you trying to fuse a prom dress and a plague doctor together?"

"Funnily enough, that was the idea I was going for," Yaoyorozu answered, her voice slightly muffled by the mask. "However, I wasn't quite sure how to make it work, so I asked Tokoyami for pointers."

"Against my wishes, mind you," Uraraka blurted sternly. "I mean seriously, we're in the middle of a trust crisis between everybody after what Mina did, and you decide to have your hero costume be an all black dress with a weird mask?! That's going to get you weird looks everywhere!"

"Perhaps, but it's the most fitting version of my hero costume considering my inheritted mutation," Yaoyorozu folded her arms. "Besides, you have to understand some of our classmates don't exactly look heroic either."

"Yeah, but yours just seems more... eye-catching, than the rest of them," Melissa scratched her chin. "Maybe if you added another color on top of the monochromatic scheme, like blue or red?"

"Blue maybe, but definitely not red," Uraraka vetoed. "Black and red are considered the most villainous combination of colors, especially if they're placed in unnerving patterns. If Yaoyorozu were to put some red without taking care of her overkill of black, she'd definitely be considered a potential traitor."

"Hmm, interesting, I'll have to keep that in mind then," Yaoyorozu turned around and crouched down. "Anyhow, I just wanted to say goodbye before I went to check on Class 1-B."

"B-But Hero Basic class is about to start!" Melissa pointed out.

"Besides, aren't Class 1-B training at the school's backyard?" Uraraka asked.

Yaoyorozu nodded. "Indeed, and I want to see how a certain swan knight is doing. I feel like he's going to need help."

The black masked heroine spread her wings and flew away, leaving Melissa and an upset Uraraka behind.

"Swan knight?" Melissa parroted, scratching her cheek.

"It's a medieval tale."

The girls turned around and saw a familiar face approaching them: Denki Kaminari, the blonde class clown of Class 1-A.

"The basic tale goes like this: a damsel is in danger, and a mysterious rescuer-sometimes a knight-appears in a swan-road boat to become her protector, the only condition he gives being that he must never be asked his name."

"That kinda sounds like Midoriya, minus the "Riding a swan-driven boat" part," Melissa folded her arms. "If I remember correctly, he went to the beach one day with this girl named Hatsume, and declared his intention to protect her while I was helping upgrading her robotic eyes."

"Aw, just like the story! How romantic!" Uraraka said, clasping her hands cheerfully. "But wait, why would Yaoyorozu want to see Midoriya, if she's really talking about him?"

"Well, I don't like heading into the gutter, but both she and Midoriya are around the age where they'd like to... experiment, if you know what I mean," Kaminari folded his arms. "She most likely doesn't know about this Hatsume girl, so she probably wants to see if Midoriya can become her mate."

Uraraka and Melissa exchanged concerned expressions...

* * *

Midoriya, in his usual analytical ways, was looking at the training of the rest of his classmates and taking notes on what could and couldn't improve.

First, he saw Yanagi levitate a group of small objects, then shoot them forward like projectiles, which were easily deflected by Awase's rod. His thoughts were to have her try to lift heavier objects, but then he remembered her limit, so he decided to keep this one on pause.

Then, he turned to Kodai, who increased the size of her bo staff until it was twice her own height. She tried to swing it at Kendo, but the resulting weight tipped off Kodai and made her fall back comically. His thoughts were to try a smaller size next time.

Next was Tsunotori, who ran around Kamakiri while shooting a couple horns at a time, each deflected by his mandibles quite easily. He didn't have much thoughts in this part, if only because there were no clear things Tsunotori could improve on besides speed.

After that was Komori, who released spores on the ground to create mushrooms just as Shishida rushed at her. The resulting mushroom was big enough to grab them both, and they got stuck in its bouncy head. His thoughts were that he wished he had been her partner instead, that honestly looked like fun.

The last girl he looked at was Tokage, who split off her arms and legs and hid behind a pillar as she made her legs and arms bother Tsuburaba. His thoughts were that she could benefit from not playing with her food as much.

Actually, another thought popped up: was he forgetting someone else?

"Midoriya..."

The boy flinched, turned around, and he was met with Shiozaki's disapproving, pouty face. "H-Hi, Shiozaki! Do you need something?!"

"Yeah, training!" Shiozaki folded her arms and looked elsewhere. "Vlad King set us up as partners, but all you've been doing is looking at the other girls! Are you ogling them?!"

"What? No, that's not what I'm doing at all!" Midoriya replied, catching a glimpse of Kendo's strategy before he snapped back at Shiozaki. "I'm just interested in seeing how they're improving, that's all!"

"Listen, Midoriya, I've researched this stuff, and I get the feeling it has something to do with how swans mate for life and you're looking for a mate or something," Shiozaki confessed, possibly to successfully get the boy's attention. "So, I don't care if you start ogling girls 24/7, but when you're paired up with one for an assignment, the least you could do is keep your ogling to your partner!"

Midoriya flinched and took a step back.

"Oho! Is some drama happening right now?"

And that only made it worse. Midoriya looked at his back, and he saw Kendo approaching him, alongside the rest of the girls... and Monoma, for some reason.

"G-Guys, I can explain-"

"Midoriya has been staring at us for a while," Tokage smiled slyly, nudging Kendo's shoulder. "Do you think he's been checking us out?"

At the third nudge, Kendo grabbed her shoulder and slumped, groaning in pain. "Oh, sorry! Was that the shoulder that got burnt?! I-I didn't mean it!"

"It's okay, Tokage, I should've gone you'd do that," Kendo stood back up and took a deep breath. "As for you, Midoriya, if something's bothering you, just tell us and we'll help you."

"Especially if it's about romantic stuff, because that's going to tough to deal with on your own," Monoma shook his head and shrugged. "As heroes in-training, we need to focus our efforts into becoming heroes. There's no room for silly little things like romance!"

Kendo rolled her eyes. "And yet you always find time to piss off Class 1-A by acting all smug and superior."

"That's a rivalry, it helps foster a desire to surpass one another, which will motivate us to put more effort into our studies."

Tokage flashed a toothy grin. "And what if the rivalry was done with someone you loved?"

Monoma opened his mouth, paused, and closed it as he got lost in thought, scratching his chin as he walked to a bench to better articulate his thoughts. At this, Tokage told Midoriya:

"Quick, Midoriya, talk while Monoma's distracted!"

The boy flinched, and with the girls all surrounding him, he twiddled his fingers and blushed as he explained, "I-I've been feeling strange lately. I-I can still analyze heroes, Quirks, and strategies like normal, b-but when I'm here, I-I c-c-can't help but k-keep an eye on you girls!"

"That's called being horny," Tokage blurted. "You can deal with it by-"

Shiozaki slapped Tokage with her vines. "What? No vine up my butt?"

"Last person I did that to turned out to be the psychopathic apprentice of Stain," Shiozaki folded her arms. "I like to think that helped discover her true nature, so I wanna save it in case another potential traitor shows up."

Tokage grinned. "So you're not against doing that again?"

Shiozaki blushed and gritted her teeth, prompting Midoriya to get in between. "I-I don't think it's horniness! A-At least, it m-might be related."

Komori tilted her head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"W-Well, I think if I was... h-horny, I-I'd be thinking about your... your... well, you know, the erogenous things!" Midoriya stammered. "But instead, I'm thinking about whether I could spend the rest of my life with you, o-or if things would work out, o-or how people could see us together!"

"Hmm, that does sound pretty strange," Tokage scratched her chin. "Are you sure you didn't think about our breasts or our butts at least once?"

Before Tokage could continue, a tower of vines sprouted from underneath her and left tangled in the air, a pair of vines covering her mouth as everybody turned to an enraged Shiozaki.

"If anybody says perverted stuff like that, you'll be next!" she snapped. "Midoriya! Finish your explanation before we get to that point!"

"R-Right! I-I was more or less finished, though," Midoriya lowered his head and twiddled his fingers again. "I can't help but effectively ogle you, not out of sexual desire, but I think a desire to see if I could spend my life with any of you."

"You're looking for a mate, then."

Everybody looked up, and they saw none other than Yaoyorozu, flapping her wings as she looked down at the groundbound heroes in-training. Unfortunately, her arrival coincided with Monoma's return, though his attention was quickly taken by the flying black swan girl.

"Uh, Midoriya, do you happen to have a sister?"

"No, I'm an only child," Midoriya shook his head. "This is Momo Yaoyorozu-"

"The heiress of the Yaoyorozu family?!" Monoma exclaimed, giving the boy a baffled look. "What the hell is she doing here?!"

Shiozaki slapped Monoma for his language.

"I'm here because I wanted to see Midoriya again, to talk about something private," Yaoyorozu said, pressing a button on her mask that increased her volume so the groundbound students could hear her. "Now, Midoriya, get up here."

"What?"

"Spread your wings and fly up here."

"That's not how my Quirk works, Yaoyorozu, you should know already!"

"Then find another way to activate it," Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow. "Or should I go get Uraraka to help you once again?"

"He doesn't need Uraraka's help!"

Midoriya turned around and saw Kendo grow her hand to its biggest size before planting it on the ground. "Come on, Midoriya, get up."

"But Kendo, that's the arm that got stinged by Mina," Midoriya pointed out. "Won't it hurt if you try throwing me up?"

Kendo put her free hand around her arm, right on the spot that got burnt, but she quickly flashed a reassuring smile.

"It's okay, Midoriya, I'll be fine."

Midoriya frowned, seeing right through Kendo's lie. He scanned the other girls, until he eventually spotted Shiozaki, looking at the airborne student with a disapproving glare.

"Shiozaki," he blurted, getting her attention. "can you make a vine platform high enough to let me activate my Quirk?"

Shiozaki hummed. "I used up much of my hair keeping Tokage in place, but I think I still have enough roots to make you a platform."

The vine-haired girl clapsed her hands and planted her hair on the ground, with it emerging shortly from underneath Midoriya to create a platform that was as tall as a small building. Midoriya jumped off, and his swing sprouted as soon as he did, allowing him to fly up to Yaoyorozu while Shiozaki undid the platform.

"Alright, Yaoyorozu, I'm here," he said as soon as he reached the bird-masked student. "What do you want?"

Yaoyorozu turned off her mask's amplification option, and she flew slightly closer to Midoriya. "The thing that you're going through is what happens to most swans when they reach sexual maturity."

Midoriya flew back. "H-Hey now, my Quirk might be swan-themed, but it doesn't turn me into a swan!"

"That doesn't matter: there are studies that indicate that certain Quirks themed after animals can cause their user to exhibit that animal's behavior, even if the Quirk isn't a Mutant type," Yaoyorozu responded, flying closer to Midoriya once again. "For example, my classmate Tokoyami's Quirk has nothing to do with his mutation, and he shows bird behavior from time to time."

Midoriya backed away again, chuckling and blushing a little. "T-That's something I'd like to see, actually-"

Suddenly, Yaoyorozu lunged forward, grabbed Midoriya's arms and pulled him closer to herself before trapping him in a hug... with his face landing right in between her chest. His wings dissipated into light, and the boy immediately hugged Yaoyorozu back in sheer fear of falling.

"Midoriya!" Monoma exclaimed in shock before he turned to Kendo. "I have an idea, but I need your help Kendo!"

Kendo nodded. "Just tell me what to do and you can consider it done!"

Back with Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, the boy breathed and blushed heavily as the girl looked down at him, surprisingly calm and collected despite the compromising position they were both in.

"I see, so your wings dissipate when you feel too flustered," Yaoyorozu lowered her eyelids. "I probably shouldn't be happy about that, but at least you won't back away from me anymore."

"Y-Y-Y-Yaoyorozu, are you crazy?!" Midoriya exclaimed, lifting his head from the girl's breasts. "I don't know if I can activate my Quirk again so soon! If I fall now, I'll definitely die!"

The bird masked student rolled her eyes. "Calm down, will you? I'm not going to drop you. I'm just going to tell you what I know, ask you a question, and whatever you answer, I'll fly you back to the ground, understood?"

"Y-Y-Yes..."

"Alright, so, when swans reach their sexual maturity, they start looking for someone to become their mate. As you probably know, swans mate for life: once they find a romantic partner, they stay with that partner for the rest of their lives, or until one of them dies. But more often than not, they stay together 'till death does them apart."

Yaoyorozu tightened the hug.

"You and I are both at that age, Midoriya. These black swan features aren't the only thing I inheritted from my ancestor; I also inheritted some of that behavior. Including the desire for a mate for life."

Midoriya frowned. "A-And you want me to be that mate?"

"Let me be blunt, Midoriya: just like you, I haven't been able to take my eyes off my classmates. If we don't find someone to become our mate, we'll keep doing this dance all the way to adulthood. And when adulthood comes, we won't just stop at analysis. We're going to grow bolder, more riskier and... let's just raunchier."

Now Midoriya was officially scared, just what the hell was going through Yaoyorozu's head to make her say that? And why was she pressing his head against her breasts again!?

"I'm looking for a mate, and judging from the way you looked at your female classmates earlier, so are you."

Holy crap, she saw that?! How?!

"So, I want you to make it easier for everybody, and become my mate. I can pay for your expenses, buy you neat little trinkets, and the only thing I ask from you is that you stay by my side for the rest of our lives."

That's kind of a big deal, Yaoyorozu!

"So, what do you say?"

Midoriya had no time to answer, for Monoma was sent flying straight to Yaoyorozu, successfully startling her into blocking the attack, but releasing Midoriya, who was caught by Monoma as they both began falling to the ground. Yaoyorozu followed them, but before she could catch them, something happened.

Swan wings sprouted from Monoma's back, and he flew both Midoriya and himself to safety.

"I see, so you can copy the Quirks of others," Yaoyorozu said as she got on the ground. "But most importantly, you interrupted me while Midoriya and I were talking."

"Right after you flustered him and forced him to stay at your side or fall to his death!" Monoma snapped as he released Midoriya, and walked up to the bird masked girl. "I don't know how things work in Class 1-A, but here at Class 1-B, that's a big no-no!"

Yaoyorozu grabbed Monoma's shoulder and pushed him aside. She walked straight towards Midoriya, who had just gotten up before he was startled, falling back on the ground again.

"Midoriya, I'm still waiting your answer."

The boy mumbled and fumbled his words repeatedly, looking practically everywhere but Yaoyorozu in an attempt to regain his composure.

"I see, you need time to think about it. Very well, I have Hero Basic training to get to anyway," Yaoyorozu spread her wings and got ready to fly. "But I expect you to have an answer by the time the Sports Festival rolls around."

Midoriya flinched, remembering that event was coming very soon, and Yaoyorozu plucked one of her feathers and handed it to the boy.

"I'll be waiting patiently for your answer, Izuku Midoriya."

Yaoyorozu blasted off moments before Midoriya's classmates could catch her, and as she flew away, Midoriya looked at her, then glanced back at the black feather she left behind, curious as of the purpose of the gift...


	14. Two Bakugous With One Kirishima

Outside of the door to an anger management class, Bakugou walked out, hands in his pockets and his eyes glued to the road back home. Before he could take a couple steps there, however, he was stopped by a familiar face.

"Kirishima?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I need you to come with me for a moment," the redhead sighed. "I need to go see Mina, and since you're able to somewhat keep her calm, I want you to be there so she doesn't freak out."

"Who the hell is Mina?" Bakugou raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about Pinky?"

"Yeah, that's her, you really don't know her name?" Kirishima scratched his head. "I mean, you're always keeping an eye on her! Especially since she became outed as a traitor!"

"Just because I keep an eye on someone, doesn't mean I know everything about them," Bakugou folded his arms. "But if this is about Pinky, then she must be getting into some trouble. Lead the way."

* * *

Kirishima and Bakugou peeked out from behind a corner, and watched as they saw Mina dancing in place, her eyes closed and a wide smile plastered across her face, giving off an aura that she didn't have a care in the world.

"Okay, there she is, so what's the problem?" Bakugou squinted his eyes. "She's only dancing-"

Bakugou nearly gasped once he got a closer look, and saw a bird falling to the ground, a knife ludged right through its stomach. Mina, without missing a beat, grabbed the knife and spun before throwing it up again, causing another murdered bird to fall to the ground.

"Alright, now I see the problem," Bakugou cracked his knuckles. "Let me handle this."

Bakugou came out of hiding just as Mina got ready to throw another knife, and he unleashed an explosion loud enough to stop the girl on her tracks. Instead of throwing her knife, she kept it on her hand, and began spinning it around like it was a pen as she turned to face the explosive blonde.

"Well hello there, Bakugou," she greeted without a hint of malice. "How was your anger management class?"

"It went well, but that's not important right now," Bakugou narrowed his eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Pinky?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm training," Mina rolled her eyes. "I mean, why else would I be dancing around while throwing knives at birds like a lunatic."

Bakugou gritted his teeth. "And what the hell does dancing and killing birds have to do with the sports festival!?"

Mina cackled. "Do you really think I'm training for that?! I don't need to train for that thing, I'll just wing it the whole way! No, I'm training for something much different, something I have come to accept as inevitable..."

Mina flashed a wide grin full of sharp teeth. "I'm training to become the next Stain."

Bakugou flinched, Kirishima gasped, and if there had been anybody else in that spot at that moment, they probably would've shared their shocked expressions.

"Let's not kid ourselves, Bakugou; I've doomed myself the instant that swan-winged boy from Class 1-B revealed my status as Stain's apprentice," Mina stopped spinning the knife and rubbed its handle against her cheek. "What was his name? Deku, wasn't it?"

Bakugou growled. "That's not his name! That's just what I call him!"

"Interesting how you always tell him to "never give up" with that name," Mina smirked. "I guess you do have an appreciation for him to an extent, don't you?"

"Stop fucking around, Pinky, explain yourself!" Bakugou gave the girl a pointing finger. "Why are you dancing and killing birds!?"

"Ever heard of "killing two birds with one stone"?" Mina began spinning the knife again. "Well, by doing this little training routine, not only do I train my reflexes to further help me at the sports festival, but it also lets me have enough experience throwing knives so that, when the time comes, I can be just as good a hero killer as Stain himself!"

Mina eyed the corner. "Speaking of stones, however, how long's gonna Kirishima be hiding over there?"

The redhead promptly came out of hiding. "You knew I was here?!"

"Not at first, but then I saw your little horns poking out, and I know nobody else with horns like that," Mina shook her head. "I mean, it's such a sad attempt at trying to stand out, but I guess I can understand why you'd do something so desperate."

Mina flashed an ear-to-ear grin. "After all, you were so hard to spot in a crowd before."

Though briefly stunned by this statement, Kirishima quickly caught his composure and took a couple steps forward. "Mina, please, you don't have to do this!"

The acidic girl stopped spinning her knife and frowned. "I don't have to do what?"

"Just because you were raised by the hero killer himself doesn't mean you have to follow in his footsteps!" Kirishima stated, clenching his fist. "You want to be a hero, right?!"

Mina paused for a moment, and lowered her knife. "I want to be a true hero, separate from the plagues of self-serving, glory hound fakers that infest the market and give a bad name to heroism."

Then, she aimed her knife at the boys, causing them to take a defensive stance. "But now, I wonder, are either of you potential true heroes?"

Kirishima and Bakugou exchanged confused looks, but didn't drop their guard.

"First, Bakugou," Mina aimed her knife at the explosive blonde. "What's your reason to become a hero?"

"Isn't it obvious? To become number one-"

Suddenly, the knife was flung right at Bakugou, grazing his cheek as it narrowly missed him. By the time he realized what happened, his wound was bleeding.

"Overinflated egos are not a good thing for a hero to have," Mina grabbed another knife and aimed it at Kirishima. "Now you, Kirishima. Honestly, you're one of the few people I care about in this cruel, unfair world of ours, so I'm going to give you an easy question."

Kirishima narrowed his eyes, unsure of how to feel about the revelation.

"There's a person in danger and nobody else is coming to help them," Mina raised an eyebrow. "What will you do?"

"Save them, of-"

Mina flung her knife up, impaling a bird and causing it to fall right into her palm. She activated her Quirk, and both the bird and knife melted into nothing.

"The correct answer wasn't a verbal one."

Mina wiped off the melted stuff from her hand. "Take the Sports Festival as a chance to prove you two really got what it takes to become true heroes. I'll be watching you from the sidelines, so don't fool around, alright?"

With her words spoken, Mina saved her hands on her pockets and began walking away, leaving the shaken boys behind.

"Fuck you..."

Mina stopped, and turned around, facing a furious Bakugou's glare. "I'll fuck you up if you so much as do this shit again, you hear me!?"

Mina looked unamused for a second, before she chuckled. "Wow, Bakugou, I didn't know you felt that way."

The boy backed away, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head as the girl added:

"Tell Dad I said hi, okay?"

Mina kept walking, this time undeterred, and once she was out of sight, Bakugou thought about her statement for a moment. And it only took him a second to figure out the implication:

"No fucking way!"


	15. Sports Festival

Midoriya and Hatsume sat down at the Midoriya's household's table, the former showing the black feather to the latter as she rubbed her forehead.

"So, let me get this straight: while I was working on both the gadget to keep Mina on a leash and your gadget to help you summon your wings, you got effectively asked out on a date by a black swan-like girl who hugged you and kept you suspended over the air? And she gave you one of her feathers before she left?"

"Change "Date" with "essentially marriage" and you got it," Midoriya glanced at the feather. "I don't even know why she'd want to give me one of her feathers. What would it even do?"

Hatsume grabbed and showed her own feather. "Well, you gave me this feather, and it works as a two-way ticket to knowing how we're feeling, I think. The feather glowed when I sensed you were in danger, and you said you also sensed me feeling upset, so maybe this girl..."

"Momo Yaoyorozu."

"Yeah, her, maybe her feathers have the same powers?"

Midoriya shook his head. "I think the only reason the feather worked like it did was because it was part of my Quirk. Yaoyorozu, however, got the black wings from a mutation she inheritted, her Quirk is something entirely different... by the way, Mina told you what it was, right?"

"Yeah, it's called "Creation" and it lets her create things from her body using her lipids," Hatsume folded her arms. "She also quipped something about how she was lightweight enough to fly, yet heavyweight enough to make her Quirk useful. Because apparently that gives her more lipids to work with."

Midoriya hummed, but before the conversation could go on, Melissa knocked the door and chirped from outside, "Are you guys for the sports festival?!"

Hatsume and Midoriya exchanged excited smiles, and they bid farewell to Inko before they left the house, Midoriya equipping Hatsume's gadgets before doing so. Once outside, the trio walked to the train station as the Hatsume was the one to continue the conversation:

"So, you actually managed to get an outfit that fit you, Melissa?"

"Yep! And I was so lucky that I got it before the festival, otherwise I might've been forced to go with the standard uniform," Melissa scratched the back of her head and smiled. "I mean, can you imagine me walking out there with an undersized gym uniform? I'd probably die of embarrassment!"

"You and me both," Midoriya chuckled before he turned to Hatsume, whose smile had slightly faltered. "Oh, right, I'll also get to show everyone the boots you made for me, Hatsume!"

"I'm aware, and I'm pretty happy about it," Hatsume crouched down and looked at the boots themselves. "Just remember that these babies might be able to give you propulsion, but they're not indestructible. I believe they can take about five tries before I have to re-adjust them."

"Noted, thanks Hatsume," Midoriya looked down. "Now, how do these work again?"

"You crouch down, then press a button, and once you jump, they should take you off the ground."

"Got it."

"Speaking of Hatsume, you're going to participate too, right?" Melissa asked, tilting her head. "The Sports Festival, I mean. Do you have any strategy?"

Hatsume thought back to her meeting with Mina, and a look of hatred formed on her face before she shook it off, and answered with a wide smile, "I'm going to do a sales pitch for all the inventions I've made for the festival!"

"That does sound like something you'd do," Midoriya chuckled. "I bet you must be in bliss being able to see all colors again."

Hatsume put a hand on her chest and smiled. "Yeah, I'm quite happy for that. Did the feather on my head tell you that?"

"The smile on your face told me that."

"Speaking of feathers," Melissa put a hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "Is that one of Yaoyorozu's feathers?"

Midoriya looked down, and saw that he still had the black feather in his hand. He quickly put it on his mess of a hairstyle and answered, "Yeah, she's one of your classmates, right?"

"Yeah, and I was a little worried she might've done something weird while she was seeing you," Melissa put a hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "She didn't do anything weird, did she?"

Midoriya glanced at the hand, and taking a deep breath, he answered, "You'll have to ask her."

"What, no stuttering? No stammering?" Hatsume asked, raising an eyebrow and folding her arms. "Spill the beans, how long did you mentally prepare yourself for this moment?"

Midoriya looked at Hatsume incredulously for a moment, before he began laughing, followed by Melissa and eventually Hatsume joining in as well.

* * *

"HELLO, EVERYBODY!" a voice spoke through the festival's loudspeakers. "THIS IS YOUR ANNOUNCER FOR THE SPORTS FESTIVAL, PRESENT MIC! AND HELPING ME HYPE US UP IS NONE OTHER THAN ONE OF THE BIG THREE HERSELF, NEJIRE HADOU!"

"Hi everyone!" a cheerful female voice spoke. "It's so exciting to be here! Hey, Mic, what am I supposed to do? Am I getting paid for this? CAN I SCREAM AS LOUDLY AS YOU?!"

"YOU CAN TRY, BUT I HIGHLY DOUBT YOU WILL, LITTLE ONE!" Present Mic laughed. "ANYHOW, OUR PARTICIPANTS ARE GETTING PREPARED, SO JUST BE PATIENT! IN TEN MINUTES OR LESS, WE'LL START THE FESTIVAL WITH A BANG!"

"Start the festival with a bang, huh?"

A tiny figure walked through the crowd right outside the stadium, and stopped in the middle of it to look at the jumbotron showing the time left before the festival started.

"Things really haven't changed since I was at U.A..."

* * *

At Class 1-B's break room, Midoriya stood close to a wall, staring at the black feather Yaoyorozu had given him. Try as he might, he couldn't help but wonder if there was more to the feather than meets the eye, just like his own feather when Hatsume explained it to him.

Because yes, that totally happened.

"Still looking at that feather, are you?"

Midoriya turned around, and saw both Kendo and Monoma approaching him, the former sporting a smile while the latter had a concerned frown.

"Yeah, I guess I can't help but wonder why she gave this to me," Midoriya said, placing the feather back on his head. "I mean, the feather I gave Hatsume lets me know how she's feeling and alerts her when I'm in danger, but that's because it's part of my Quirk. Yaoyorozu's feather, however, is from her inheritted mutation, not her Quirk."

"How do you know that for sure?" Monoma folded his arms. "For all we know, her Quirk could let her create feathers and this one could be a result from that."

"No, that's not her Quirk: Hatsume told me it's called Creation and it lets her create things from her body, using her lipids," Midoriya took a deep breath. "Although, granted, that's probably not the thing we should be focusing on right now."

"Yeah, right now, we need to focus on who'll get to be Midoriya's lover," Tokage giggled. "I call dibs!"

Shiozaki slapped Tokage with her vines. "What we should be actually focusing on right now, is on strategies to pass the festival. With the heavy powerhouses that Class 1-A has this year, it'll be even harder for our class to stand out, let alone survive past the first or second event."

"Um, Shiozaki, I'm pretty sure I'm the one who's supposed to be obssessed with surpassing Class 1-A," Monoma folded his arms and raised his eyebrow. "Why are you showing interest in trying to surpass them all of a sudden?"

"Because that black swan girl Midoriya met didn't give me a good first impression," Shiozaki eyed the rest of her class. "And besides, the purpose of this festival, from what I remember, is to show the pro-heroes our potential as sidekicks. How are we supposed to do that when the other classes get the attention?"

"I still think it's kinda weird to hear something so competitive come out of your mouth," Komori remarked.

"But she does have a point," Monoma pointed out. "And in fact, I did have an idea to let most of us get past the first round."

Midoriya smiled and put the feather back on his head as he asked:

"What's your idea?"

* * *

"The feather serves as a little gift in order to have a piece of me with him during the festival," Yaoyorozu explained to an unimpressed Uraraka. "That way, I can keep an eye on him and he can keep an eye on me. It'll be like we'll get to know each other better."

"I mean, he could always just, I don't know, throw the feather away right?" Uraraka argued. "I mean, for all intents and purposes, it's just a cosmetic trinket."

"That's where you're wrong, Uraraka; you see, that feather was one of many I created with my Creation Quirk," Yaoyorozu demonstrated by plucking one of her feathers, then creating a new one in the spot where the feather had been ripped from. "It has the same properties as Midoriya's feather to his protectorate."

Uraraka raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know about those properties?"

"I don't, I just assume the properties based on Midoriya's surprising similarity to The Swan Knight."

Uraraka rolled her eyes, and she left Yaoyorozu's side to walk up to Melissa, who entered the room with a gym uniform that actually fit her.

"Wow, Melissa, that looks good on you!" Uraraka chirped as she ran up to the girl. "How did you manage to get a gym uniform that fit you?!"

"I asked Principal Nezu if he could make me a gym uniform my size, and he complied without too much hassle," Melissa responded, scratching the back of her head. "All he asked in return was that I didn't blow up the uniform or something by the end of the sports festival."

"I know how that feels," Yaoyorozu sighed, spreading her wings slightly. "I've broken a fair deal of gym uniforms just trying to get my wings out."

"Is that why you're wearing a tank top instead of the top of the uniform?" Kaminari asked.

Yaoyorozu turned to Kaminari, tilting just enough to reveal her tank top read "Yes" around the stomach.

"Okay, point taken," Kaminari rolled his eyes. "At least it's not nearly as suspicious as your hero costume."

Yaoyorozu smacked Kaminari in the head with one of her wings as Melissa brought up an interesting question:

"You wanna be a hero for money?"

Yaoyorozu turned, and approached the duo, primarily Uraraka's side as the brunette scratched her head and answered, "Y-Yeah, something like that. You see, my parents haven't had much economic stability since my Dad's construction company hasn't got much work, so I want to become a pro-hero so I can use the money I earn to give them some stability."

"But my family can already give you enough money to do just that," Yaoyorozu pointed out.

Uraraka sternly narrowed her eyes. "I don't want to put them in more debt, Yaoyorozu."

Seeing Uraraka's increasingly angry expression, Yaoyorozu turned to Melissa and asked, "S-So, Melissa, what's your motivation for becoming a hero?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know that too!" Uraraka added, immediately changing her mood to a happy one. "I mean, you were already famous as an inventor in I-Island. Having you as a hero is cool and all, but what motivated you to do it?"

Melissa closed her mouth and scratched her chin. She obviously couldn't tell them her reason to become a hero was that she wanted to follow in All Might's footsteps, but she also hadn't thought up a cover story for it yet, so she was kinda stumped as to what to say in that moment.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell us too," Uraraka added, waving her hands. "I understand if it's something personal."

"Well, your motivation sounded pretty personal too, and yet you told her anyway," Yaoyorozu pointed out.

"Yeah, but in my case, the most I would get from people is that they'd see me as a little greedy," Uraraka folded her arms. "Now, imagine if I had a different motivation, like wanting revenge on a person that bullied me when I was younger."

"Unless that person was Bakugou, then yeah, that doesn't sound like something you should just say out loud."

"I heard that, Ugly Duckling!"

Yaoyorozu gasped. "How rude!"

"Speaking of motivations, what's your motivation to be a hero, Yaoyorozu?" Kaminari suddenly inquired. "You're rich, you have connections, an incredible Quirk, it sounds like you could deal without being a hero."

"Perhaps, but I have to prove something to someone," Yaoyorozu sighed, and this was enough to break Melissa out of her trance. "You see, I inheritted my wings and neck from my ancestors on my _father's_ side of the family. He wanted me to cut, or at least clip, my wings since he thought I'd have enough trouble with my Quirk."

"So you think becoming a pro hero is going to convince him that you can use both your wings and your Quirk?" Kaminari raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, it doesn't sound like those two things correlate-"

"My father's a pro hero."

"Okay, now I see the connection."

And as the trio kept talking, Melissa separated from them. She knew Uraraka would demand an answer from her eventually, but for now, she decided to focus on what Yaoyorozu said.

_So Yaoyorozu got her mutation from her father's side of the family, and he also happens to be a pro hero..._

It wasn't long before she got an idea.

_Wait, is Yaoyorozu...?!_

* * *

Hatsume finished taking out a set of gadgets and immediately got to work on adjusting them with what little time she had left before the start of the festival.

"Senior?"

Hatsume stopped and turned around, spotting Mineta right behind her. "Oh hey, Mineta, what's up?"

"I was just wondering what's all that stuff you got there," Mineta tilted his head and scratched his chin. "Are those gadgets for the sports festival?"

"That's it, my sweet little junior!" Hatsume proudly boasted.

"What a coincidence, I too built something for the festival!" Mineta boasted in return. "Although, admittedly, I only built it for the tournament portion."

Then, without warning, his confidence plummeted. "That's assuming I get to the tournament portion of the festival, though."

"You will!" Hatsume gave the purple dwarf a thumbs up. "As long as you keep your head in the game, you'll be fine!"

"That's a pretty optimistic way to think about it."

The duo turned around, and saw a guy with a mess of purple hair and insomniac-like eyes enter the room. He looked at the two of them for a second, before he approached a wary Hatsume.

"You're from general education, right?" Hatsume put her hands on her hips. "What brings you to the support room?"

"Well, I heard that you have a connection to a member of the hero course," Shinsou smiled. "Is that true?"

"Yeah, is that so-"

Suddenly, the sound of bells rang as Hatsume's eyes turned blank, with Shinsou smirking as he said:

"When I snap my fingers, you will tell me about the hero course student you know and what gadgets you made for him."

Shinsou snapped his fingers, and Hatsume responded in monotone:

"His name is Izuku Midoriya, the only gadget I made for him were a pair of booster boots to let him access his wings more easily."

"Go back to normal." Shinsou snapped his fingers again.

Hatsume blinked twice, going back to normal the first time, and grabbed her head as Shinsou headed for the door. "Thanks for the information."

Hatsume covered her mouth as the guy closed the door, and she turned to Mineta, who looked just as stunned as her as he waved his hands and bowed down, apologizing for not doing anything.

However, Hatsume only cared about one thing:

_What the hell just happened!?_

* * *

"ALRIGHT EVERYBODY, YOU'VE BEEN PATIENT FOR LONG ENOUGH! TIME TO BEGIN THE SPORTS FESTIVAL!"

The audience roared in cheerful joy.

"That's the kinda audience I like!" Present Mic chuckled. "Now, may all the first years head into the stadium!"

The first years from the hero courses, management courses, support courses, and general education walked out into the sunlight, the audience cheering loudly as they all formed lines in front of the arena, some taking the moment to look around the scenery.

_Wow, there's so many first years, and almost none of them look anywhere near as tall me!_ Melissa mused. _Why was I cursed with so much height?!_

"I knew there'd be a lot of people, but I didn't think there'd be this much," Midoriya whispered, Monoma nodding in agreement. "We're gonna have to be extra cautious."

Hatsume's eyes first fell on the hero course, where she saw Mina staring at her with a sly smile. Her uniform, while identical to the rest of the students, now sported a color scheme of black and red, rather than blue and white.

When she diverted her sight elsewhere, she spotted the insomniac-looking guy from general education stealing a glance at her, then turn back to the arena as if nothing happened.

Great, rather than dealing with one jerk, she'd have to deal with two.

"Now, the student with the top score on the entrance exam will say some words!" Nejire chirped. "Could Katsuki Bakugou head into the arena, please!"

Midoriya felt a chill go down his spine: of course Bakugou would have the top score on the entrance exam, but then again, he was Bakugou. There was no way he could do anything involving speaking and not inflate his own ego at best, insult everybody around him at worst.

Then again, he had been acting calmer than usual lately, so maybe this wouldn't be so bad?

Oh hey, he was already talking.

"Normally, I would just up and tell all of you that I'm going to win this thing, but honestly? That alone wouldn't do my feels justice. So, let me say a couple of things."

If Midoriya could give anybody a piece of advice right now, it would be to brace themselves.

"This thing has one purpose and one purpose only, besides letting us beat the shit out of each other." Bakugou pointed at the pro heroes. "It's so the pro heroes over there can see which one of us has the best potential out of everyone: whether that's the best use of our Quirks, the best strategy, the best defense, or yes, even the best at beating the shit out of other people, that's the thing everyone is looking for in this festival!"

"He's not necessarily wrong," a greenette pro heroine said with a chuckle.

"As for you, extras, don't you dare hold back! Everyone has to give it their all in order for this to have any sort of meaning!" Bakugou snapped at the teenagers. "Nobody cares if you have issues with your Quirk, or you father or whatever!"

Todoroki and Yaoyorozu flinched at the second part.

"In this festival, the only thing meaningful you can do, is something that we all have to do. We either go, all out, or all home. And if anybody here isn't willing to use their Quirk to their utmost potential, you might as well pack your things and leave! Everybody else..."

Bakugou clenched his fist and raised it as high as he could.

"PLUS ULTRAAAA!"

He dropped the mike afterwards, and before the audience and students roared, he said, with an amused smile:

"That is all."


	16. Obstacle Course

"WELL, THAT WAS AN AMAZING SPEECH FROM KATSUKI BAKUGOU, EVERYONE! WHAT DO YOU THINK, HADOU?!"

"He has a way with words, that's for sure!"

"HE SURE DOES, DOESN'T HE? NOW, TIME TO BEGIN THE FIRST EVENT OF THE FESTIVAL, THE ONE TO SURELY THIN THE STUDENTS' NUMBERS TO ONLY THE BEST OF THE BEST!"

All Might sighed at the statement. He couldn't help but feel nostalgic about the situation: several years ago he had stood in that same field, with the pro heroes having their eyes glued to him, and now he was part of the pro heroes, whose eyes were glued to the generation as whole. Though something told me that, one way or another, those eyes would be glued to a certain Melissa sooner or later-

"Hello there, Toshinori."

All Might coughed up some blood as he turned to see the tiny guy sitting next to him. "Gran Torino?! What are you doing here?!"

"Melissa's going to participate, isn't she?" Gran Torino folded his arms. "I wanna see how she's managed herself until now, and see how far she gets."

"So, you don't think she'll win the festival?" All Might asked, wiping the blood off his cheek.

"Hmph, I trained you two the same manner, and you never won the festival either, did you?" Gran Torino turned back to the field. "Granted, Melissa is different from a numbskull like you, I'll give you that."

This also felt nostalgic, but for the wrong reason.

"But let's wait and see what tricks she pulls out of her sleeves first. She has quite the competition, after all."

* * *

Among the students getting prepared for the first event, the obstacle course, Class 1-B gathered together with Midoriya in the middle. "Alright, everybody know what we have to do?"

"Work together!" Hiryu shouted as he raised his fist. "Or at least, do it in a way to make some of us get to the next round."

"More specifically, me, Midoriya, Kendo, Shiozaki, and Tokage," Monoma spoke. "Anybody else reaching the next round is obviously beneficial, but those five are especially important if we want Class 1-B to win the sports festival."

"To show off Class 1-A, I assume?" Tokage scoffed.

"No, to show off that Class 1-B has just as much potential to be heroes as Class 1-A!" Kendo stated. "Besides, I'm sure we all know there's at least one Class 1-A student we definitely need to show a lesson."

The whole class turned to face Yaoyorozu, who was clasping her hands and taking deep breaths, psyching herself for the upcoming course.

"She made the mistake of messing with one of our classmates, and that very same classmate's going to teach her you don't mess with 1-B," Monoma turned to Midoriya and flashed a confident smile. "Isn't that right, Midoriya?"

"Let's do this!"

The boy nodded, and he shook hands with Midoriya, copying his Quirk in the process.

Meanwhile, with the support course, Hatsume finished placing the final piece of her Hatsu-Armor, as she called it, before she stole a glance at Midoriya talking some strategy with Kendo and Monoma. Somewhere nearby, she also spotted Mineta constantly writing the kanji for "courage" before swallowing it.

"Are you nervous?"

Hatsume turned around, and sporting her usual wide smile, Mina was right next to her.

"Mina..."

"This is the first time you're going to be exposed to the pro hero world, Hatsume," Mina smirked as she brushed Hatsume's hair. "I sure hope you're ready for whatever comes next."

Hatsume looked angry for a moment, then giggled. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," Hatsume slyly smiled. "I just find it so funny how scared you are of me."

Mina narrowed her eyes, abandoning any semblance of fake friendship. "What are you talking about?!"

"Haven't you heard? More often than not, intimidation is a tactic used by people who're afraid of the person they're to intimidate," Hatsume narrowed her eyes. "And you have to be quite afraid of me to do it so consistently."

Hatsume walked away, leaving a baffled Mina behind.

Finally, Melissa finished doing some stretching when she spotted Todoroki approaching Yaoyorozu. Once the two met, they began talking rather... calmly and amicably.

"Yaoyorozu."

"Todoroki."

"Do you have issues with your father, too?" Yaoyorozu winced. "I saw you flinch when Bakugou mentioned daddy issues earlier."

"No, I love him!" Yaoyorozu twiddled her fingers. "I have issues with what he thinks about my mutation!"

And as the duo kept talking, Melissa couldn't help but think about to her own father, David Shield. She lowered her head and took a deep breath.

_Dad, if you're watching me right now..._

She raised it with a determined expression.

_Cheer me on!_

* * *

"AND IT'S TIME TO BEGIN! THE FIRST OBSTACLE OF THE OBSTACLE COURSE WILL BE A LONG TREK TOWARDS INCOMING DANGER-!"

"Are you sure that's the first obstacle?"

"WHATEVER DO YOU MEAN?!"

Hadou pointed at the entrance to the course, and it was rather evidently clogged by the large mass of students trying to get through. They tried pushing and shoving each other, but this didn't help them at all.

After a few seconds, both Midoriya and Monoma flew high above the mass, carrying Tokage, Shiozaki, Kendo, and Tsunotori, the last one manipulating her flying horns so they'd carry Tetsutetsu, Komori, Tsuburaba, and Honenuki.

"IZUKU MIDORIYA AND NEITO MONOMA FROM CLASS 1-B HAVE PASSED THE MASS OF STUDENTS! WATCH THEIR MAJESTIC WINGS FLAP VICTORIOUSLY TO THE FIRST OBSTACLE!"

Soon after, Hatsume and Yaoyorozu flew as well, the latter carrying Todoroki, followed by a giggling Mina jumping on top of the students until she reached the other side.

"AND RIGHT BEHIND THEM IS MEI HATSUME WITH WHAT LOOKS LIKE AN ARMOR, MOMO YAOYOROZU WITH HER WINGS AND SHOTO TODOROKI IN TOW, AND MINA ASHIDO USING THE STUDENTS AS PLATFORMS!"

Finally, a yellow light flashed before Melissa burst through the mass, sending several students flying away as she braked, yellow electricity crackling through her body.

"AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE WE HAVE CLASS 1-A'S BOWLING BALL, MELISSA SHIELD!"

Melissa flashed a pouty face at the announcer before lowering her power, and running after the other students. The rest of her classmates came running as well, just in time for the first obstacle to make its presence known.

"AND NOW, FOR THE FIRST OBSTACLE FOR REAL, WE HAVE A CERTAIN OLD FRIEND READY TO GIVE THE HERO COURSE A ROBOTIC FIST BUMP! THAT'S RIGHT, IT'S THE ZERO-POINTERS!"

"How did we not see them sooner?!" Shiozaki exclaimed.

"Doesn't matter!" Midoriya said as he dropped Tokage. "Kendo, think we can try that thing we did again?"

Kendo looked at her burnt arm, and rubbed it, wincing at the resulting pain. "I don't think so!"

Just then, the Zero-Pointer headed straight for Midoriya, who braced for impact before the giant robot was halfway frozen into an iceberg. He looked down, and saw the source was none other than Todoroki, who breathed as he ran past the frozen robots.

"AND SHOTO TODOROKI HAS SURPASSED THE FIRST OBSTACLE ON HIS OWN! I'VE HEARD ABOUT GIVING SOMEONE THE COLD SHOULDER, BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS! GOT ANY COMMENTS, HADOU?!"

"How did he do that? When did he do that? How cold must it be down there? Oh, how I wish I had him for a classmate, theres so many things I wanna ask him!"

"YOU AND ME BOTH, SWEETIE! NOW LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!"

The giant robot began tumbling down towards the students, but before it could fall on top of any of them, it disintegrated to dust, which flew off into the sky as Melissa's voice called:

"Thanks, Shimura!"

Midoriya and Monoma turned to the ground, and saw a guy with black hair and silver tips turn to Melissa, and flash both a confident grin and a thumbs up.

"UNBELIEVABLE! TENKO SHIMURA OF CLASS 1-A HAS DESINTEGRATED THE ROBOTS FROZEN BY SHOTO TODOROKI! WAS THIS CLASS 1-A'S PLAN?! COULD THIS HAVE BEEN A COMBINATION ATTACK ALL ALONG?!"

* * *

"Tenko Shimura," Gran Torino repeated. "Hey, Toshinori, isn't that the brat you rescued all those years ago."

All Might formed a little smile. "Yeah, that's him alright."

* * *

Midoriya grabbed Tokage again and he and Monoma flew forward across the frozen landscape, their classmates following close behind. It didn't take them long to reach the next obstacle.

"THE FIRST OBSTACLE WAS BRUTE FORCED, BUT SUCH A TACTIC WON'T WORK THIS TIME! WELCOME Y'ALL TO, THE FALL!"

"Ha! Bet they didn't expect some of us could fly!" Monoma proudly boasted as he flew ahead of Midoriya. "Come on, Midoriya, let's clear this one!"

"Monoma, look out!"

The copy boy barely managed to see what was ahead of him before he bumped into someone. He bumped so hard, he not only dropped to the ground, dissipating the wings in the process, but also sent whoever he had crashed into towards the abyss.

Taking a look at the edge revealed the person to be Mina, who had a bored look as she fell.

"OH NO! SOMEONE HAS FALLEN INTO THE FALL! BUT DON'T WORRY, INSTANT DEATH DOESN'T AWAIT THEM AT THE END OF IT!"

"It doesn't?" the pink girl sighed and folded her arms. "Well, consider me disappointed."

Suddenly, a pink flash of light snatched Mina and brought her to the other end of the fall, just in time for her to witness Yaoyorozu, Midoriya, and several more students cross the line into the third obstacle already.

She, however, was too stunned at seeing who had saved her: it was Hatsume, who extended a hand towards her with a stern expression.

"Why," Mina hissed and grabbed the hand. "Why did you save me?!"

"We have a beef to finish, Mina," Hatsume stated sternly as she helped the pink girl stand up. "The only one who's going to get you out of the festival will be me, you got it?!"

Mina smirked. "Who's afraid of who, now?"

Rolling her eyes, Hatsume flew off, and Mina followed soon after.

"AND NOW COMES THE THIRD AND FINAL OBSTACLE OF THE OBSTACLE COURSE! THIS ONE IS GOING TO BLOW YOUR MIND, THAT'S FOR SURE! WELCOME TO THE LANDMINES!"

Yet another obstacle that Midoriya could easily fly past. It was becoming more and more clear that the school hadn't taken into account that some students could fly, namely he and Yaoyorozu, the latter flying past him shortly after.

Before he flew as well, though, something at the ground caught his interest: not only was Mina dancing across the battlefield while somehow dodging all the mines, but Melissa was doing something similar: powering both her arms and her legs, she put one on the ground, leapt high, landed on one foot, jumped again, rinse and repeat.

She also seemed to have something on her back, but what it was, Midoriya had no idea.

"Midoriya!" Yaoyorozu called, breaking the boy out of his trance. "I know I shouldn't butt in the rival class's business, but get a move on!"

"Aw, what's wrong, Yaoyorozu?" Tokage cooed, reminding Midoriya that he still had both her and Shiozaki as passengers. "Jealous that your not-mate's looking at another girl?"

Yaoyorozu's cheeks glowed a bright red, and she flew off in a huff, leaving a satisfied Tokage behind. "Knew it!"

"I think you just got on her hit list," Shiozaki pointed out.

"Totally worth it! Now come on, let's go!"

Midoriya nodded, and he began to speed towards the stadium, which was looking closer than ever.

"Hi Midoriya!"

The boy turned around, and saw Hatsume flying by his side, an amused smile on her face. "So, who are the pretty ladies you got there?"

Midoriya blushed. "T-They're just c-classmates! T-They need to reach the next round, so I'm carrying them!"

"Are you jealous?" Tokage smirked.

"No, at least not that much," Hatsume rolled her eyes. "After all, I've been closer to Midoriya for a long while than either of you."

"Hatsume!"

"We've even taken baths together."

"You're gonna make me lose my wings!"

"In more ways than one," Shiozaki said, her tone clearly conveying disapproval as Tokage burst laughing.

Hatsume let out a little giggle as well, and before he knew it, Midoriya was laughing as well. They began speeding up to the end of the landmine-filled terrain, and they stopped laughing, getting ready to race each other to the stadium.

And then Hatsume's armor got struck by something, causing it to malfunction.

"Hatsume?!"

The gadgeteer screamed as she fell down, and landed face-first on one of the mines, causing it to blow up and send her back into another mine, which blew up, and so on and so forth. Eventually, she landed on an empty hole from an already set-off explosion, and she twitched in pain as a certain acidic girl ran past her.

Midoriya noticed Mina's malicious smirk, and he quickly put two and two together. And just in time, too, since he reached the end of the landmine right then and there.

"Midoriya?" Shiozaki asked as she jumped off his back. "Are you okay?"

Midoriya dropped Tokage on to the ground, and just as Shiozaki ran to her side, Midoriya's eyes flashed orange before he flew right back into the minefield.

"He's going back in there?!" Shiozaki exclaimed, wrapping one of Tokage's arm on her shoulder. "What does he think he's doing?!"

"Don't you get it, Shiozaki?" Tokage chuckled. "He's going to his mate's help."

"UH OH! IT LOOKS LIKE MIDORIYA HAS DECIDED TO HEAD BACK TO THE DANGER ZONE!"

"Why would he do that?! He was already out of it!"

"LOOKS LIKE WE'LL HAVE TO WATCH AND SEE!"

Midoriya's eyes slowly became completely orange, and his hair and skin became chalk white as he unleashed a thunderous roar, flying right past Mina as the pink girl recognized the form. Though thankfully, the transformed winged humanoid didn't seem to notice her...

And then he snapped a glare at her, freezing her in place for a second. Mina continued dancing around the minefield after, but a certain sense of dread now coated her movements.

Back with Midoriya, the winged boy stopped in front of the downed Hatsume, his form shield her from the sunlight as she opened her eyes and turned to the shadowed boy.

"Izu...ku...?"

He slowly leaned towards her, grabbed her, and lifted her in a bridal carry before flying off, leaving the broken armor behind.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS FOLKS! IZUKU MIDORIYA OF CLASS 1-B HAS TAKEN THE TIME TO GRAB THE DOWNED MEI HATSUME FROM THE SUPPORT COURSE!"

"How romantic!"

"INDEED, BUT THAT WILL HAVE TO BE FOCUSED ON ANOTHER TIME, BECAUSE WE'RE ABOUT TO HAVE OUR FIRST PLACE PRETTY SOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE FIRST STUDENT BACK ON THE STADIUM IS..."

A blur of yellow lighting went through the shadowed hallway and stopped to catch her breath, as her form was revealed, with Present Mic's thunderous voice:

"MELISSA SHIELD FROM CLASS 1-A!"

The stadium roared with cheers as Melissa caught her breath, and, with the slow realization that she was the first student back, a smile formed on her face.

"AND LITERALLY RIGHT BEHIND HER, ON SECOND PLACE, IS MINORU MINETA FROM THE SUPPORT COURSE!"

Melissa winced and turned to her back, spotting the grape-headed boy laughing victoriously to himself.

"I can't believe that worked!" Mineta jumped off and flashed a pair of peace signs. "I honestly thought it would fail, but I'm so glad it didn't!"

Then he turned around, and saw a baffled Melissa looking down at him. "Oh, uh, sorry for using you like that, but I didn't have any chance of going to the next round otherwise."

"No, yeah, that I can guess, but..." Melissa raised an eyebrow. "When did you latch on to me?"

"I latched to your back moments before you bowling ball'd the mass of students at the start."

"That early?!"

"AND ON THIRD PLACE WE HAVE MOMO YAOYOROZU, CARRYING WITH HER THE FOURTH PLACE, OCHAKO URARAKA!"

Yaoyorozu flew down and released Uraraka, sighing as she turned to the entrance, where several other students were flowing in. "Good, at least I reached third place."

"I'm happy for you, Momo!" Uraraka chirped, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But things are only going to get more dangerous from here on out. Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"Oh, I'm more than ready," and then a familiar figure entered. "But I don't know if he is."

Midoriya landed on the ground, and both his transformed state and wings vanished, leaving Hatsume to look at him in his base form. "Are you okay, Hatsume?"

"Yeah, the mines weren't strong enough to cause bodily damage," Hatsume promptly pouted. "But my Hatsu-Armor got utterly trashed! Now I'm gonna have to build it from scratch!"

Then she thought about it, and smiled. "Wait, I'm gonna have to build it from scratch! Yay!"

Midoriya chuckled until he heard a familiar voice call his name, and he promptly saw his fellow Class 1-B classmates, mostly Monoma and Kendo, approaching him.

And Monoma didn't look very pleased. "Why did you nearly risk your placement there, Midoriya?! You were _this_ close to reaching the top three!"

"Don't be like that, Monoma," Kendo said, holding back the desire to chop him in the neck. "He managed to get Shiozaki and Tokage into the next round, and you did the same with me and Pony. Sure, some of her passengers didn't get in, but we still got some numbers to our advantage!"

"Yeah, and what's better's that the plan worked!" Tetsutetsu chimed in. "Now we just need a new plan for the next round, and the tournament, and we'll be set!"

"Before we do that, though, here's a question, Midoriya," Kendo raised an eyebrow. "How much longer are you planning to hold that girl?"

Midoriya looked back at the Hatsume in his arms, and as he put her down, he got an idea. "Everyone, this is Mei Hatsume. She's the girl I took under my protection."

"So that explains the feather on her head," Monoma remarked, reaching for said feather.

The feather glowed white and sent a spark right at his finger. "Ow! Did that thing just shock my finger!?"

"Well, if we wanna be honest, everybody wants to shock you at some point," Komori quipped.

Class 1-B laughed, and as they did, Hatsume decided to separate from them and head back to see how many people from her own course had managed to get in. So far, she managed to spot Mineta, and prayed he didn't get in trouble with Melissa-

"Are you Midoriya's protectorate?"

Hatsume stopped on her tracks and turned to see Yaoyorozu standing nearby, arms folded behind her back and her wings slightly spread. Hatsume looked behind her, then turned back to winged girl and pointed at herself, raising a confused eyebrow.

"Yes, you, are you his protectorate? Did he put you under his protection?"

Hatsume reached for her feather and showed it. "Well, he gave me this feather, which lets us know if the other's in danger. Does that count?"

Yaoyorozu giggled. "So you _are_ his protectorate. I've heard a decent deal about you."

She walked towards Hatsume, making the difference in their heights that more evident, and she added:

"Now, let me make one thing clear, protectorate: being under his protection, isn't the same as being under his-" the girl paused and blushed, shaking her head as she quickly cut to the chase. "A-Anyway! What I'm trying to say is, a mate and a protectorate can be completely different! You may be his protectorate, but you won't be his mate, that'll be me, got it?"

"Uh... sure, I guess?"

"Good. Now, if you don't want to get in trouble, just keep the relationship between you two and protector and protectorate, alright? It's better for everyone that way."

Yaoyorozu turned around, and walked back to her classroom. Left behind, however, was not a Hatsume that recognized this as a battle of affection, but a Hatsume who was having a hard time processing what had just happened.

_What the hell was that all about?_

And then she spotted a certain mess of purple hair, and decided to focus on that.

* * *

"Well, the first event's over and it looks like Young Melissa's still in the game, huh?" All Might asked proudly as he watched Melissa help a breathing Tenko stay balanced.

"Getting a little cocky now, aren't we, Toshinori?" Gran Torino laughed heartedly. "This was just a mere taste of what's to come. If she manages to pass the next event, then you can feel confident!"

Then, the miniature hero scratched his chin. "By the way, has the festival finally fixed a second event, or is it still randomly selected?"

"Randomly selected," All Might sighed. "But, no matter what event's picked."

All Might smiled as Melissa went to help Mina stand up, the pink girl still shaken by the glare Midoriya shot at her earlier.

"I'm confident she'll pass it."


	17. Catch the Headband

"ALRIGHT, HOPE YOU ALL LIKED THAT LITTLE BREAK, BECAUSE WE'RE BACK IN ACTION! ANY THOUGHTS, HADOU?!"

"I have no idea what's coming next, and that only makes me more excited!"

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT! LET'S HOPE THE STUDENTS DOWN THERE HAVE THE SAME DRIVE AS YOU!"

All students remaining lined up, and from what could be seen, most of the students were an even split between Class 1-A and 1-B, with two from the support course and one from general studies. There was also a very tiny white-haired girl around the lines, but Midoriya couldn't for the life of him figure out which course she belonged to.

"Geez, that last event certainly thinned out the numbers," Tenko remarked, scanning the lines with slight concern. "How many more can be taken out now?"

"Well, from what I remember," Mina hummed. "The last event's a one-on-one tournament of 16 students, so-"

Melissa jabbed Mina on the neck, and grabbed her as she collapsed. "We're gonna be fine, Shimura."

"I sure hope so."

Meanwhile, with 1-B, Midoriya stole a glance at the talk between Melissa and Tenko, before he turned to see Hatsume standing uneasy alongside Mineta and Shinsou, the former glaring at the latter as if to warn him not to do anything.

"Hey, Midoriya, stay focused," Monoma said, snapping his fingers. "This event is critical: we need to get at least you, Kendo, Tetsutetsu, and Shiozaki to the final tournament round!"

"Huh? Me?" Midoriya asked incredulously. "I mean, I understand why I needed to pass during the last event, I was carrying Tokage and Shiozaki, but why am I included in the lineup?"

"Kendo's arm might still be injured somehow, but she can still pack a punch; Tetsutetsu's Quirk makes him a decent tank and he's pretty strong, so as long as he doesn't face off against someone with a stronger Quirk, he'll be fine; Shiozaki's vines are extremely versatile and fast, so as long as she doesn't face fire or ice

Midoriya blinked once and shook his head, earning a baffled look from the copycat.

"Midoriya, you can fly!"

Oh right, he could do that, couldn't he? And furthermore, with the boots Hatsume made for him, he didn't have to worry about the jumping requirement. And going from what he had seen so far, there weren't many people who could fly as well, except...

Yaoyorozu...

He stole a glance at the winged girl from 1-A's line, and once she noticed him, she... shyly blushed and avoided eye contact. Well, that was certainly not the reaction he was expecting.

Okay, how about Hatsume over at the other line? She spotted him and smiled, waving hello before she turned back to wait for the unveiling of the next event.

Yup, that was more to Midoriya's liking.

"And now!"

Everybody turned back to the stadium, and they saw the R-Rated heroine, Midnight, standing right next to a wheel with several events written on it. "Let's decide the next event!"

She spun the wheel, and as everybody waited for the wheel to stop, some students talked among each others:

"Where the heck did she come from?" Monoma inquired.

"It's Midnight, don't question it." Kendo answered.

"Is that outfit really appropriate for a hero?" Shinsou asked, activating no bells.

"If you think that's provocative, you should've seen her original costume," Mineta spoke, trying to hold back his laughter. "It was so controversial it created a new law!"

Midnight cracked her whip, and the murmurs stopped just in time to see the wheel stop... and point at an event simply titled "Free For All."

"Free For All?" the students asked in unison.

"The event rules are simple: two third years from U.A. will wear headbands on their bodies, eight a piece, and those who manage to snatch the headbands go to the final event! And once you snatch a headband, you'll go back to the stands to wait for the event to end! But don't think this'll be a piece of cake, for this year, we have the two remaining members of The Big Three rounding up the second event!"

At Midnight's sides, two platforms rose up, holding the two mentioned third years. Each sported the headbands around their legs, arms, wrists, neck, and heads.

"A round of applause for Mirio Togata and Tamaki Amajiki, everyone!"

The audience roared in applause as Mirio waved hello and Tamaki saved his hands on his pockets and lowered his head. "Too much attention..."

_Mirio Togata and Tamaki Amajiki..._ Midoriya lowered his eyelids with determination. _Lemillion and Suneater..._

_You have to be kidding me..._ Hatsume grimaced, her eyes widening in sheer disbelief. _We'll have to face two of The Big Three just to reach the tournament?! _And then she smiled_. I'm so pumped!_

_Mirio Togata, I think Gran Torino told me he was a potential candidate to get One for All..._ Melissa smiled with excitement. _I guess now's as good time as ever to test if he would've been a better pick than me..._

And then she noticed something. "Wait a minute, Midnight! I only see seven headbands around Togata's person! Combined with Amajiki's eight, it only adds up to fifteen!"

"Ah yes, I was hoping to save that revelation for later, but since you pointed it out," Midnight giggled and aimed her whip at Melissa. "The first place winner of the obstacle course will wear the sixteenth and final headband!"

"What?" was all Melissa could utter.

"Alright, we'll give everyone fifteen minutes to prepare, and then we'll begin the Free For All!"

* * *

Midoriya reunited with the remaining students of Class 1-B to form a strategy, Hatsume and Mineta talked about strategy while putting some finishing touches on some gadgets, the gen ed students looked at each other before looking elsewhere, and Class 1-A hyped themselves up for the upcoming event.

And watching them all was Melissa, who stood frozen in the middle of the arena with Mirio and Tamaki.

_I'm so screwed..._ Melissa thought as she wrapped her headband. _I just wanted to test my strength against the other potential inheritor, but now I'm gonna have to fight for my life just to get to the next round!_

"Oi!"

Melissa flinched and turned around, meeting Mirio's friendly smile. "You look a little nervous, first time doing this?"

"Y-Yeah," Melissa twiddled her fingers. "I had no idea getting first place would give me such an... overwhelming position on the second event, so, I'm kinda nervous."

"You don't look like a first year to me," Tamaki blurted. "You look old enough to be either a second or third year. Did you hold back a grade?"

"Oh no, no, I just didn't bother going through the entrance exam when it first happened, I was still focused on my inventions back then," Melissa explained. "But now that I'm at U.A., I want to know all there is to be a hero, and so, I'm going to need to go through all three years to get a good idea, right?"

"I see..."

"AND START!"

Melissa flinched as Mirio and Tamaki took defensive positions... for about a second before the trio separated; Mirio and Tamaki jumping away, while Melissa flinched forward, narrowly missing a bursting wall of white fire.

"W-What's going on?!" Melissa asked as she turned around and leaned her hand closer to the wall. "What's this thing?"

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you."

Melissa flinched and turned to face the source of the voice, the white-haired girl from before, who parted her hair to reveal a glowing white horn.

"Just because the fire's not red or blue doesn't mean it doesnt burn."

"WOW! ERI HASSAIKAI FROM GENERAL STUDIES HAS SPLIT THE ARENA INTO THREE, SEPARATING MIRIO TOGATA, TAMAKI AMAJIKI, AND MELISSA SHIELD INTO THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL ARENAS! BUT WILL THIS MAKE GETTING THE HEADBANDS EASIER, OR HARDER?!"

_It's definitely easier for me,_ Shinsou smiled as he turned to Midoriya. _Especially since I got the same group as Midoriya. Now, I just need to get close..._

And as Shinsou sneaked his way towards the swan knight, he crouched down, ready to leap into the air.

_Okay, Midoriya, the arena might've been split into three, but you got this in the bag!_

Midoriya eyed Monoma and some of his fellow classmates, including Shiozaki and Kendo.

_Some of your classmates did make it into the section you're in, and you have a plan! You just need to make sure you don't mess anything up!_

Midoriya looked down at his boots, and got ready to push the button.

_I already activated the boots once, and Hatsume said it could go four more times before she needed to fix them. And as long as the plan goes smoothly, I should only need to use them once, so-_

"Hey."

Midoriya raised an eyebrow, and Tamaki showed a headband to Midoriya. "If I give this to you, would you stop muttering? It's scaring me."

"Oh, right, sorry, it's an old habit of mine," Midoriya grabbed the headband and wrapped it around his head. "Now, where was I?"

...Wait-

"UNBELIEVABLE FOLKS! USING THE POWER OF MUTTERING ALONE, IZUKU MIDORIYA OF CLASS 1-B HAS ALREADY ADVANCED TO THE NEXT ROUND!"

"What?!" Midoriya exclaimed as the audience roared in joy. "No, wait, I-I didn't mean to do that!"

"WHO CARES? YOU PASSED, SO GO TO THE STANDS AND WATCH THE REST OF THE SHOW, PLEASE!"

"B-But-"

"Who cares if it was an accident, Midoriya, you passed!" Monoma said with a thumbs up. "Now go to the stands."

"But what about the plan?!"

"We can improvise from here," Kendo said as she walked up to the boy. "You got the headband, so go take a breather. You're gonna need it for the tournament."

"But-"

Suddenly, Midoriya was grabbed by Kendo's gigantic hand, then promptly thrown towards the stands by the redhead, activating his wings just before he crashed on them. He calmly flew down, landed on the seat, and gave his classmates a thumbs up.

"Alright, everyone!" Monoma narrowed his eyes with determination. "Time to improvise!"

Meanwhile, on Mirio's side of the arena, he sighed and shook his head. "Poor Tamaki, peer pressure has always been his biggest weakness."

Then, a steel-covered Tetsutetsu jumped out of nowhere and reeled back a fist. "I don't think getting scared of muttering counts as peer pressure!"

Tetsutetsu threw the fist, but as soon as he did, it phased right through Mirio, who turned to look at him with half his arm on his face.

"What the hell?!"

Mirio promptly responded by throwing a punch that not only connected with Tetsutetsu, but sent him flying straight into a wall, cracking it in the process.

"Whoops, that hook might've been a little too strong!" Mirio said as he waved his hand. "Sorry about that, kid! I thought I needed to give it my all since you got steel for skin! Are you okay!"

"I'm okay!"

"Great!"

Soon after, a smoke bomb dropped next to Mirio's feet, and once he looked at it, he turned towards the direction it was thrown from: Yaoyorozu was there, holding a serious expression on her face.

"Clever."

The bomb blew up, covering Mirio in a smoke cloud.

"Everyone, now's our chance!"

Yaoyorozu flew forward into the smoke cloud, followed by a couple of other students, and a couple seconds later they came out, and Yaoyorozu dispelled the smoke cloud by flying up, revealing she was wearing one of the headbands.

"Alright, got one!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed with pride. "What about you guys?!"

"I'm in!" Kaminari chirped, showing the headband on his hand.

"Me too!" Uraraka added, wrapping the headband around her head.

Yaoyorozu looked around for any other headbands, but her classmates looked at her and shook their heads with worried frowns. And soon after, Mirio came out of the smoke cloud, clapping slowly and looking at Yaoyorozu with a little smile.

"I got to admit, that was a neat little trick you pulled out there, totally didn't see it coming! I'm kidding of course, I had a plan ready in case something like that happened, but still, points for trying!"

"AMAZING! MOMO YAOYOROZU HAS MANAGED TO SNATCH HEADBANDS FOR HERSELF, DENKI KAMINARI, AND OCHAKO URARAKA, BUT MIRIO TOGATA STILL HAS HEADBANDS LEFT TO BE TAKEN! NOW, PLEASE LEAVE THE FIELD AND WAIT UNTIL THE EVENT'S OVER!"

Yaoyorozu glared at Present Mic, but after processing the fact, she took a deep breath and grabbed Kaminari and Uraraka.

"I'm sorry everyone." she said before flying off back into the stands, leaving the rest of her classmates to figure out how to get the headbands.

As that happened, Melissa's side had Melissa surrounded by a mix between her classmates and Eri, the latter who got up, dusted herself, and ran straight for the blonde inventor. Melissa clenched her fists and prepared to use her arm brace...

And then Eri was struck by a Sugar Rush'd punch from Sato.

"Huh, Sato?!" Melissa exclaimed as she deactivated One for All. "What are you doing?! You're supposed to head for my headband!"

"Perhaps, but you're the strongest student in Class 1-A by far!" the man replied, clenching his fist as he flashed a little smile. "If there's anybody who can win this festival, it's you!"

"Sato has a point!" Sero stated as he prepared to shoot his tape. "Considering someone from Class 1-A will go to the next round regardless of whether we take your headband or not, we should make sure you advance!"

With that, the rest of the 1-A students got ready to stand by Melissa's side, and though she didn't lower her guard, she flashed a little, relieved smile as she clenched her arm brace and prepared to fight back.

_Guys, I'm so glad I have you on my side!_

* * *

Mina rolled on the ground and stopped just short of hitting the fire wall. She promptly stood up and lunged at Mirio once again, phasing right through him and crash landing on the floor.

"Dang it, he keeps becoming intagible!" Mina snapped as she stood up. "If only there was a way to stop him from doing that..."

"Pinky."

Mina turned around, and saw both Bakugou and Kirishima approaching her, the former with his hands on his pockets while the latter looked rather... upset.

"Oh hey, Bakugou, Kirishima, I'm so glad you both are still here!" Mina said as she approached the guys. "Congratulations on that speech at the start of the festival, Bakugou! I'm really impressed with how you managed to avoid feeding your own ego!"

Mina extended a hand forward, but Bakugou slapped it away.

"I heard what you did to Sharpshooter."

Sharpshooter? Was Bakugou talking about Hatsume? Well, they did meet before when she snitched on her with him, but besides that, she never thought Bakugou and Hatsume would meet eye-to-eye. Hell, she never thought he'd actually bother to give her a nickname!

"Perhaps I did something to Hatsume," Mina said, waving her hand. "What about it?"

"Listen, just because everyone knows you're an asshole doesn't mean you can just freely do dick moves like that," Bakugou narrowed his eyes, and Mina could only hope he realized how hypocritical that statement was. "Remember how I said I would beat the shit out of you if you got out of line? You're coming dangerously close to that line."

"It's cute how you keep spouting empty threats like they had any meaning," Mina giggled with a hint of malice. "I can't wait to hear you boasting and hissing when you get kicked out. At least you can rest easy knowing you're on the path to becoming a true hero."

Bakugou gritted his teeth and growled.

"Kirishima, you still have to prove your worth as a true hero, or "manliness" as you keep saying," Mina raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Facing off against one of The Big Three sounds quite manly, don't you think?"

"We've already seen you phase through him, though," Kirishima pointed out. "We won't be able to get any headbands if we just straight up rush him."

Mina lowered her eyelids. "Well, I got a plan for that."

And as the trio talked about the plan, Mirio watched them with folded arms and a tilted head._ They're actually thinking up a strategy now, huh? That's definitely a step up._

Suddenly, he heard someone running up to him, and once he turned, he saw the steel-skinned Tetsutetsu doing just that. He wasn't very impressed.

_Definitely more of a step up than this guy._

Then he heard another scream, and he saw Kirishima, Bakugou, and Mina rushing towards him, the former two hardening his skin and creating firecrackers respectively.

Okay, nevermind, maybe they still got a few ways to go.

Mirio got ready to attack, but without warning, Mina grabbed Bakugou's hand and launched him straight for Mirio. He prepared to block the attack, but Bakugou simply aimed his palms forward and unleashed an explosion big enough to cover Mirio in the same old smoke cloud trick.

This was followed by him, Kirishima, Mina, and Tetsutetsu all rushing in. Bakugou blew up the smoke cloud soon after, sending Mirio towards the wall, though the guy himself was barely bruised. However, he did notice one peculiar thing about the quartet:

They all had headbands around their heads.

"Nice," Mirio said with a smile.

"AND IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, KATSUKI BAKUGOU, MINA ASHIDO, EIJIRO KIRISHIMA, AND TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU HAVE ADVANCED TO THE NEXT ROUND! AND THIS EFFECTIVELY LEAVES MIRIO WITHOUT HEADBANDS! ONLY TAMAKI AMAJIKI AND MELISSA SHIELD REMAIN!"

Tamaki heard that, and he shivered as he looked back at the students at his side, Class 1-B and the Support Course students. Also a gen ed student looking like he really needed to sleep.

Then he looked at himself. He had just enough headbands for seven more students.

This was too much. Too much!

"Hey, something wrong?"

"Huh?"

Before he could say anything else, Tamaki's eyes went completely white and he stood dazed, while Shinsou walked up to him with his hands on his pockets.

"Well, my plan with Midoriya might've gone up in smoke, but at least I can still get an easy win with you," Shinsou sighed. "When I snap my fingers, you'll take off one of your headbands and give it to me."

Shinsou snapped his fingers, and Tamaki did as he told him: he took off one of his headbands, and presented it to Shinsou, who said "thank you" as he reached for it.

Just before he grabbed the headband, however, a pink blur flashed by and snatched it instead.

"Thanks for the headband, sucker!"

Shinsou turned to the spot the blur went to, and he saw a grinning Hatsume looking smugly at him as she wrapped the headband on her head.

"OH! LOOKS LIKE MEI HATSUME HAS SNATCHED THE HEADBAND HITOSHI SHINSOU WAS GRABBING! THAT MEANS SHE GOES TO THE NEXT ROUND, AND SHINSOU HAS ONE LESS CHANCE TO ADVANCE!"

"Ugh, that freaking girl!" Shinsou snapped his fingers. "Quick, give me another headband!"

Tamaki took off another headband, but just as Shinsou grabbed it, a purple blur snatched it. He turned to the blur, and this time it was Mineta who had taken and wrapped the headband around his head.

"Thanks for that!"

"Oh come on!"

"AND MINORU MINETA GOES TO THE NEXT ROUND TOO! THAT'S ANOTHER CHANCE LOST!"

"Tell me something I don't know!" Shinsou snapped, then turned back to Tamaki before snatching one of the headbands. "Just give me the headband and turn back to normal!"

"ABOUT TIME, KIDDO! HITOSHI SHINSOU GOES TO THE NEXT ROUND!"

Shinsou growled, and once Tamaki turned back to normal, he turned to him and said "I'm sorry" with a sincere tone.

Shortly after that, Hatsume's gadget sent her flying back to the stands, but she didn't land back with support; rather, she landed right on top of Midoriya's lap.

"H-Hatsume!" he exclaimed, blushing wildly. "Why did you land here?!"

"Weird, I'm sure I adjusted it to send me back to the support stands," Hatsume scratched her chin and turned to her side. "Mineta! Did your gadget suffer the same issue?"

The boy promptly crash landed... right into Yanagi's bust. "Yeah."

"Hey, look at the bright side, at least you didn't crash land into Shiozaki's chest," Tokage smirked with a giggle. "Poor guy would've broken his nose once he got a faceful of that chopping board-"

"I _heard_ that, Tokage."

Everybody turned around, and saw Shiozaki, Kendo, and Monoma standing on top of a large plant platform, though oddly enough, only Kendo and Shiozaki had headbands.

"Aw come on, Shiozaki, you know I'm just joking!" the lizard girl laughed. "It was just some friendly ribbing!"

Shiozaki growled and walked past Tokage-slapping her in the process-as she and her classmates took their seats.

"Hey, Monoma, where's your headband?" Midoriya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The ones that needed to go to advance were you, Kendo, Shiozaki, and Tetsutetsu," the copycat responded. "As long as you four reached the tournament, I don't need a headband."

"You'd get kicked out as soon as your match started, anyway," Hatsume pointed out."

"Unfortunately, I agree with you."

* * *

"AND TIME'S UP!"

The walls of white fire dispersed, revealing both Mirio and Tamaki with no headbands left... and Melissa still having her headband tied around her head.

"AND, HAVING KEPT HER HEADBAND THE ENTIRE EVENT, THE FINAL STUDENT TO ADVANCE TO THE TOURNAMENT IS MELISSA SHIELD!"

The audience cheered as Melissa's surprised stare slowly morphed into a joyful smile.

"Congratulations, Melissa!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed from the stands.

"You did great!" Midoriya corroborated.

Melissa kept glancing between everybody as more congratulations flew towards her, until she turned to her fellow Class 1-A classmates, mostly Sato and Sero.

"Thanks, all of you," she said. "I don't think I would've lasted that long without you."

And then she turned back to see Eri, down on her knees and catching her breath while sporting a mix between an angry and forlorn expression. She approached the exhausted white-haired girl, and offered her hand.

"Oh, and you did good too. That was pretty smart move, splitting the arena into three."

Eri gasped and looked angrily at the hand, before she looked up at Melissa's reassuring, sincere smile. Eri frowned for a second, before she forced a smile and accepted the offer.

"T-Thanks," she said as she stood up. "I didn't expect it to work."

Eri separated from Melissa and walked back to the stands, waiting until she had her back turned against Melissa before gritting her teeth and furrowing her brows, growling all the while. Melissa, for her part, tilted her head and put her finger on her cheek, before she joined the rest of her classmates at the stands.

"WE'LL TAKE A SHORT BREAK TO PREPARE THE ARENA, EVERYONE! AND ONCE WE RETURN, WE'LL BEGIN WHAT EVERYONE'S BEEN WAITING FOR! CIAO!"


	18. Midoriya Versus Bakugou

The rankings for the tournament had finally been revealed, and the trio of Melissa, Midoriya, and Hatsume gathered close to them to see their matches:

1.) Izuku Midoriya Vs. Katsuki Bakugou

2.) Ochako Uraraka Vs. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

3.) Melissa Shield Vs. Tenko Shimura

4.) Momo Yaoyorozu Vs. Shoto Todoroki

5.) Denki Kaminari Vs. Ibara Shiozaki

6.) Mina Ashido Vs. Itsuka Kendo

7.) Minoru Mineta Vs. Eijiro Kirishima

8.) Hitoshi Shinsou Vs. Mei Hatsume

"I have the first match..." Midoriya grimaced. "And it's up against Bakugou..."

"And my match will be against Tenko," Melissa sighed. "I can only imagine how badly this is going to affect his self-esteem. He tends to beat himself up pretty badly when he messes up."

Hatsume, meanwhile, remained silent. Not because she was speechless over who she was going to face, but because she was, for lack of a better word, muttering on her head.

_I see, so the first fight I'll have will be against that jerk that made me reveal Izuku's identity and the gadget I made for him. Good, that means I'll be able to give him the beating he so rightfully deserves!_

She took a moment to realize what she did, and blush accordingly.

_W-Wait, why am I calling Midoriya by his first name? I only do that in serious situations, and this certainly isn't serious yet!_

"Hatsume?"

The gadgeteer turned to see both Midoriya and Melissa looking at her, one with concern, one with curiosity. Guess which of them had which expression.

"Are you okay? You're blushing."

"Oh, uh, it's nothing, Izuku," Hatsume turned back to the rankings. "It's just that my opponent's someone I got a bit of a beef with."

"Izuku?"

Hatsume flinched and turned around again, this time seeing a blushing Midoriya and a gasping Melissa, the latter whose wide mouth formed into a smile as she put her hands on her cheeks.

"W-Wait, i-it's not what you think-!"

"You just called him by his first name!" Melissa chirped, pointing at Midoriya.

"No! I mean, yes, but-!"

"So cute!"

"W-Well, I did ask for it, didn't I?" Midoriya argued, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

"You're not helping, Izuku!" Hatsume slapped herself. "Gah, I did it again!"

After another chuckle, Melissa calmed down and turned back to the matches, which made her smile falter. "And apparently, Mina's going to fight Kendo."

"Did someone mention my name?"

The trio turned and, to their displeasure, Mina was calmly walking towards them, holding a smug, snobby smile as she pushed past them and looked at the matches.

"No way! I'm gonna fight Kendo?! I can't wait to bring our little scuffle from so long ago full circle! I bet we're going to be friends by the end of it!"

"Cut it with the false joy, Ashido!" Midoriya chided, getting the acidic girl's attention. "We all know you're only happy for the match up 'cause it'll let you hurt Kendo again!"

Mina giggled. "Perhaps that's the reason. Or perhaps I'm happy because the road to facing Hatsume has just been made infinitely easier; I just beat Kendo, and whoever comes next, and Hatsume has to beat..."

Mina looked at the last match, and grimaced. "That bastard Shinsou."

"Now that you mention him, does anybody even know what he does?" Melissa asked, scratching her head. "I've never seem him use it."

"He can only activate his Quirk with a question, I think, and the telltale sign is the sound of bells," Midoriya explained, folding his arms. "If they sound threatening, he's angry, but I think they sound normal for everything else."

"And that question thing isn't even a limitation: he simply spoke to me during my detainment, and the bells still rang," Mina confessed, putting a hand on her hip. "Also, if you do talk to him when the bells ring, you'll be under his control until he tells you what to do, snaps his fingers, gets you to do that thing, and then snaps them again to turn you back to normal."

"So that's what he did," Hatsume scratched her chin. "I remember him coming to the support room, he asked a question, I replied, and next thing I know everything was blank."

"For all intents and purposes, then, you can't speak to him during the entire match," Melissa hummed. "You weren't planning of talking too much during the match, were you?"

Hatsume blushed and looked elsewhere as she twiddled her fingers.

"Don't tell me you were planning to turn the match into a sales pitch," Mina teased.

"Would you leave us alone already!?" Midoriya snapped.

"Geez, fine, you really do get cranky when people tease your girlfriend," Mina spoke as she walked away, not even waiting until she was out of view to add, "Hey, Yaoyorozu! Are you sure you want that guy as your mate!? He's one cranky asshole!"

The trio simply shook their heads and turned back to the matches, just in time for another person to join their ranks: Uraraka, who walked past the trio and looked closer at her match with a slightly concerned expression.

"Uraraka?"

"Oh, h-hi!" the Brunette greeted nervously. "S-Sorry, I didn't notice you were there! I was very focused on the matches!"

"It's okay, I understand," Midoriya turned back to the board. "You're facing off against one of my classmates, Tetsutetsu."

"Yeah, and you'll be facing off against Bakugou," Uraraka sighed as she turned back to the board as well.

And then she noticed Melissa and Hatsume staring at them. "S-S-So sorry! I didn't notice you either!"

"How? I'm the tallest woman in the whole first year bracket!" Melissa quipped with a lighthearted chuckle. "Nah, just kidding. You already know me, right?"

"Melissa Shield, famous ex-inventor and daughter of support specialist David Shield," Uraraka nodded. "I know who you are, you're in my classroom."

"Um, ex-inventor?" Melissa folded her arms. "Excuse me, I'm still an inventor."

Uraraka tilted her head. "Are you sure? Because I haven't seen you invent anything since the school year started."

Melissa flinched. "I haven't?"

"Well, I certainly have invented stuff!" Hatsume butted in. "Mei Hatsume, at your service!"

Uraraka's smile faltered slightly. "Oh, so you're the girl that told Bakugou about Midoriya showing my class his Quirk, right?"

"Pretty much!"

Uraraka's face looked concerned. "Have you two hung out since then?"

Hatsume scratched her head. "Not much, really, he just visits the support room sometimes in order to get me to look at his support items."

"I see," Uraraka sternly uttered, her frown gaining a hint of disapproval.

_Why is she getting upset?!_

"Anyway, back on to the matches," Midoriya blurted. "Melissa, what do you know about this Tenko Shimura you're fighting?"

"Just general knowledge: he's a kid who was rescued by All Might, he's a member of the Shimura family of heroes and other things, and he's rather shy," Melissa shrugged. "That's it."

"So, you're going in blind," Midoriya took a deep breath. "Well, I'm gonna go clear my head until my match starts."

"Bye-bye, Midoriya!" Hatsume chirped, waving her hand cheerfully.

The boy separated from the girls, and walked around the stadium, seeing the food stands, the people conversing, and just all around trying to calm himself down before the tournament portion of the festival started.

"I'm telling you, that this is the best chance you got to convince Deku to drop out!"

"And I'm telling you, I'm not going to fucking do that!"

Well it didn't take long before he stumbled into an interesting scene. And, sadly enough, one that was related to his fight with Bakugou. Against his better judgement, Midoriya approached the scene, and found none other than Mina and Bakugou talking together.

"Uh, what's going on here?" he asked.

Bakugou turned around and saved his hands on his pockets. "Nothing, Deku, just Pinky being a stubborn little bitch."

"Stubborn little bitch?!" Mina repeated, feigning shock. "How could you call your sister such a horrible thing?!"

A long silence came and went...

"W-Wait a minute, you two are related?!" Midoriya exclaimed, taking a step back. "H-How would that even be possible?!"

"Trust me, I didn't believe it either, so I asked my parents about it and guess what? Dad apparently had an affair in which Pinky came out as a result," Bakugou rolled his eyes. "And I don't know which is worse; the fact Pinky's my sister, or the fact my Mom knew about the affair and was actually okay with it."

Midoriya frowned. "You have to be kidding me!"

"Nope, what we're telling you's the truth!" Mina chirped. "I was born in an attempt to reel in Bakugou's insanely temperamental attitude; something about the idea that having a little sister would make him behave."

"Although considering who you are right now, I don't think being around you would've helped. At all."

"And if you're wondering why we were talking about you..." Mina folded her arms behind her back and approached Midoriya. "Well, simply put, Icarus, you're inches away from coming face-to-face with the sun."

"Icarus? Face-to-face with the sun?" Midoriya folded his arms. "What are you talking about, Ashido?"

"Just pure nonsense, Deku, don't listen to her."

Mina huffed. "You say that now, but when the fight comes up and you end up burning his wings out of the tournament, you will remember me."

With that said, Mina strolled off, and Midoriya threw a confused look at Bakugou, prompting the explosive blonde to explain himself:

"Pinky had the idea that, since I've had my Quirk for years and you only had yours for basically one year, that the discrepancy between our experience would give me an easy win. However, I get the feeling she's only saying that because she's desperate for you two get out of this thing."

Midoriya lowered his eyelids. "I scared her, didn't I?"

"Well, you did shoot quite the glare at her, so the possibility you two could end up fighting would no doubt make her uncomfortable," Bakugou sighed. "But we won't know if she's scared until the fight."

Bakugou saved his hands on his pockets and walked away, leaving Midoriya alone to continue his trek across the stadium.

"Oh, Midoriya!"

At least until Yaoyorozu popped up.

"Oh, hi Yaoyorozu," he greeted. "I was just taking a walk to prepare myself for my fight."

"Yeah, I know, and I don't plan to take too much of your time," Yaoyorozu clasped her hands. "I just want to let you know that I'll be cheering you on."

Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "Does this have anything to do with the fact you want me to become your mate?"

Yaoyorozu blinked. "N-No? Why would it have anything to do with that?"

"Well, you did come to my class's training ground and kinda gave everyone a heart attack with what you did."

"Yeah, on hindsight, that was a horrible first impression, but Midoriya..." Yaoyorozu put a hand on his shoulder. "Whether we become mates or not, I want to try establish a friendly relationship between Class 1-A and Class 1-B. And since you seem to be among the friendlier members of 1-B..."

"Okay, I get it," Midoriya smiled. "Thanks, Yaoyorozu. I'll be cheering you on when your match starts, too."

Yaoyorozu smiled and blushed with a simple nod, before separating from the boy.

* * *

And before anybody knew it, the tournament started, Bakugou and Midoriya taking their spots at the edges of the arena while Midnight stood at the sidelines.

"AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE FINAL EVENT OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL, THE TOURNAMENT!"

"Yay, tournament! Oh! And it looks like we got an interesting match up to start things off!"

"STOLE IT RIGHT FROM MY MOUTH, YOUNGLING! ON ONE CORNER, WE GOT THE BOY WHOSE SWAN DIVE GAVE HIM A NEW, DEFINITELY QUIRKY LIFE! IT'S CLASS 1-B'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!"

"Go, Midoriya!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed from the stands, making the boy flinch and blush.

"AND ON THE OTHER CORNER, HIS EXPLOSIONS ARE ONLY MATCHED BY HIS TEMPER! ONE OF THE STRONGEST STUDENTS OF CLASS 1-A, KATSUKI BAKUGOU!"

"Become a supernova that'll burn him to a crisp, Bakugou!" Mina shouted with excitement, earning a disapproving look from Yaoyorozu. "What? I'm only being honest: Bakugou has a far higher chance of winning than Midoriya, be realistic."

Uraraka joined in giving Mina a stern look, before she turned back to the arena.

In there, Bakugou briefly took a look at the audience, and though they were far away, he still caught two sights that intrigued him.

The first one was Uraraka, who looked at him with a concerned look before she noticed him, and promptly turned elsewhere, narrowing her eyes in a pout.

The other sight was Mina, who was waving her arms with the smugest shit-eating grin Bakugou had ever seen. Yes, even compared to his earlier grins.

"They're watching us, Midoriya," Bakugou stated as he turned back to the swan knight. "Pinky, Round Face, and Black Swan are going to have their eyes on us the whole fight."

_Black Swan?_ Midoriya raised an eyebrow. _Is he talking about Yaoyorozu?_

"START!"

"Well then, show me what you got, Midoriya!"

With that said, Bakugou sprinted towards Midoriya, and the boy quickly responded by crouching down, pressing a button on his boots, and then jumping high enough to reach the sky. He promptly fell down, and before he hit the ground, he sprouted his swan wings and flew up, with Bakugou wasting no time in giving chase.

"I see you've managed to find a way to work around your jumping requirement!" Bakugou exclaimed, unleashing explosions downwards. "Who made those things for you? Bullseye?"

"If you're talking about Hatsume, then yes; I asked her to build the boots, and she delivered," Midoriya answered, getting ready to dodge. "You got a problem with that?!"

"Not at all," Bakugou smiled with confidence. "It'll even the field, if only so slightly!"

"WOW! THE FIGHT'S BARELY STARTED AND BOTH OUR FIGHTERS HAVE DECIDED TO TAKE THINGS TO THE SKY! WHICH ONE OF THEM WILL FALL FIRST? WHICH ONE WILL LOSE FIRST?!"

"And most importantly, can I hug Midoriya when this is over?!"

"THAT'S... AN ODD REQUEST, YOUNGLING."

"His wings just look so fluffy!"

And as the commentators kept talking, Bakugou kept throwing explosion after explosion at Midoriya, who flew out of the way each time, narrowly missing the strike. This continued until Bakugou decided to fly slightly more up than Midoriya, confusing the guy before he followed him.

Once high enough, Bakugou swung a kick right at Midoriya's face, then followed that by throwing an explosion on his face, sending him flying towards the audience seats.

However, Midoriya quickly regained his composure, and flew away before he crash-landed, the audience cheering as he flew right back to Bakugou, who gritted his teeth as he shot off some more explosions.

The boys chased after each other, forming what basically amounted to a light show until they both went back to the arena: Bakugou landing on his feet, while Midoriya kept himself suspended from the ground so his wings wouldn't vanish.

"I gotta admit, Deku, you're definitely not like the little Quirkless loser that used to be beneath me," Bakugou smiled. "And you're certainly not the loser that couldn't compare to me anymore."

Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "Well, thanks? Honestly, it feels kinda weird to be praised by you."

Bakugou unleashed small firecrackers and leapt high. "That's the idea!"

Midoriya looked up, and he brought his wings in front of him, with the black feather on his head glowing as Bakugou spun around, put his arms up close and shouted:

"Howitzer Impact!"

What Bakugou unleashed next was the mother of all explosions, covering the entire half of the arena, and having enough force to shake the entire stadium.

"Midoriya!" Class 1-B exclaimed in horror.

"Izuku!" Hatsume screamed in disbelief.

Melissa, though staying silent, gritted her teeth as she threw a disapproving look at Bakugou.

"I said it once, and I'll say it again."

Melissa turned around, and saw Mina looking at the fight with a bemused expression.

"Midoriya flew too close to the sun, and got caught up as it turned into a supernova."

And finally, Yaoyorozu clasped her hands together and looked at the giant explosion as it began to dissipate, hoping that, even if Midoriya was out of the tournament, that he was still relatively okay. Or, at the very least, alive.

"That attack took everything I had," Bakugou said as he took a couple deep breaths, his arms shaking slightly. "But as long as it got the point across..."

The cloud smoke fully dissipated, and it revealed Midoriya laying on the ground, the wings in front of him looking pitch black before they cracked and dissipated into light.

"It was worth it."

Several seconds passed as Midoriya didn't move an inch, with Midnight too stumped to say anything.

"AND BAKUGOU HAS UNLEASHED WHAT CAN ONLY BE HOPED TO BE HIS STRONGEST ATTACK! MIDORIYA MIGHT STILL TECHNICALLY BE ON THE RING, BUT IF HE'S NOT EVEN CONSCIOUS TO COUNTERATTACK, THEN WHAT'S THE POINT?!"

"Hey, your name's Midnight, isn't it?" Bakugou snapped at the referee. "He's not going to stand up after that attack-"

"You... think so...?"

Everybody turned to see Midoriya's side of the arena, and all sorts of mixed reactions came in: Mina was flabbergasted, Yaoyorozu was relieved, Melissa was glad, Hatsume was almost on tears, and all of Class 1-B rejoiced.

And what they were seeing, was Midoriya stand back up, heavily bruised but still in the fight.

"Maybe when we were younger... but not now..."

Bakugou looked dumbfounded at the still standing swan knight for a moment. But his shock was soon replaced with an amused smile.

"You really have changed... Deku..."

With his words spoken, Bakugou collapsed, and soon after, Midnight spoke:

"Bakugou can't go any longer! Midoriya goes to the next round!"


	19. Over in a Flash

"You gave me a heart attack!"

"It was a true miracle!"

"I can't believe you could still stand!"

And more comments from his classmates came to Midoriya, who was scratching the back of his head and laughing a bit. "Come on, guys, stop it, I get it already."

"No, I don't think you do," Monoma shook his head. "You just went face-to-face against the strongest student in all of Class 1-A, and you managed to outlast him!"

"And that's the keyword: I outlasted him," Midoriya pointed out. "I didn't really beat him, I just managed to hold on long enough for him to pass out."

"Dude, the fact he passed out before you is still amazing," Kendo remarked. "I still can't believe you did it... but most importantly, how did you do it?"

"Yeah, and where did the black feather on your head go?" Tsuburaba blurted.

Midoriya searched his mess of a hairstyle, and he soon realized that yes, the black feather he got from Yaoyorozu was nowhere to be found.

"Midoriya?"

The boy turned, and Class 1-B turned around to see Yaoyorozu peeking from across the wall set between both stands.

"Oh, Yaoyorozu," Midoriya smiled a little. "Hi. Sorry, I think I lost the feather you gave me."

Yaoyorozu shook her head. "No, you didn't lose it: you used it."

Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "Used it?"

"The feather I gave you was meant to be used similar to yours: as a token of protection. So, when you tried to block Bakugou's explosion, the feather activated and enhanced your wings so they could absorb most of the damage." she explained. "The feather vanished for good after that."

"That sounds like a big fat deus ex machina to me," Monoma spoke. "But who cares?! Midoriya's still in this thing! Suck it, Bakugou!"

Kendo slapped Monoma.

"Speaking of Bakugou, how is he?"

"Recovery Girl healed him, and he's already back at the stands," Yaoyorozu scratched the back of her head. "Now, I should get going back to my seat, Uraraka's going to fight next."

"Got it."

So Yaoyorozu returned to her seat, and both classes turned to see the next match.

"ON THIS CORNER, FROM THE HERO COURSE, WE HAVE THE QUEEN OF SPACE HERSELF, A YOUNG LADY WHO WILL BLOW YOU AWAY! CLASS 1-A'S OCHAKO URARAKA!"

"AND ON THIS CORNER, ALSO FROM THE HERO COURSE, A VERY EMBODIMENT OF METALLIC MANLINESS! IT'S CLASS 1-B'S TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU!"

"Why did you repeat his name twice?"

"I DIDN'T! THAT'S HOW HIS NAME'S SPELLED, APPARENTLY!"

"I'm just gonna let you know now," Tetsutetsu pounded his fists. "I'm not gonna go easy on you just because you're a girl!"

Uraraka smiled wide. "Well, considering the number of guys who've told me to relax since they'd hold back against me, it's kinda refreshing that I'm fighting someone who'll take me seriously. That's quite a gentleman move, if I do say so myself."

Tetsutetsu blushed, but he quickly shook it off and prepared to fight, all while Uraraka lowered her eyelids and thought, _It won't change the outcome, though._

"START!"

Tetsutetsu turned his skin to steel and pounded his fists once more.

"Take this! Steel Rush!"

The steel-skinned teenager rushed towards Uraraka, who responded by taking a couple steps forward.

_He even has a special move ready? That's cool, but it's still not enough to change the outcome of this fight._

Once close enough, Tetsutetsu threw a punch that Uraraka easily dodged. She responded by tapping his back with all five fingerprints, causing the steel-skinned teenager to start floating forward.

"W-Wait, what?!" Tetsutetsu flailed his arms. "What's going on?!"

"I'm sorry, but rushing into me was never going to work," Uraraka pressed her fingerprints together. "Release."

The steel-skinned teenager remained on the air for a second before he plummeted into the grass face-first.

"Tetsutetsu is out of bounds!" Midnight exclaimed. "Uraraka goes to the next round!"

The audience roared with joy as Tetsutetsu turned his skin back to normal, and Uraraka walked up to him and offered a hand to help him stand up. And though hesitant at first, Tetsutetsu accepted the offer, stood up, then raised Uraraka's arm, causing the audience to cheer once more.

* * *

Tetsutetsu was the first to return to his class' stand, sitting down with an upset expression. "I can't believe I got beaten so easily!"

"I definitely can believe it," Shiozaki stated. "I know your Quirk doesn't give you much range, but rushing straight for an enemy is a guaranteed recipe for disaster."

"Mhm," Kodai hummed in agreement.

"Shiozaki, don't make Tetsutetsu feel worse than he already feels," Kendo chided. "He did the best he could without knowing what her Quirk was."

"Yeah, and even if I had explained to him what her Quirk was, I don't think it would've changed much," Midoriya interjected. "I mean, considering Tetsutetsu's short range, he'd need to get close to Uraraka anyway just to try get a hit in."

"Which reminds me," Shiozaki narrowed her eyes. "Why didn't you give him a plan or strategy to try defeat that girl?"

"Because they'd involve the exact same "get close and hope you can hit her" tactic he used."

And as Class 1-B continued with their argument, Class 1-A got the return of Uraraka to the stands.

"You did great out there," Yaoyorozu remarked.

"Thanks, Yaoyorozu," Uraraka replied as she sat next to the winged girl. "I was rather surprised he went charging straight for me, though."

"His Quirk doesn't seem to have many, if any, long range applications," Mina brought up. "To him, it was get close or wait for you to get close, which was never going to happen."

Uraraka narrowed her eyes. "I see..."

A short silence followed, until Bakugou blurted, "So, Inventor Jr. and Handyman are going to fight next."

Everybody turned their attention to Melissa and Shimura, the latter shivering as he tried to think of what to do. Melissa put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and they both decided to head down for the fight.

Before they had even left, however, Tenko tripped with Mina's foot.

"Ashido!" Melissa snapped. "Why didn't you put your foot back!?"

"Why did you walk out at my row?" Mina responded sternly. "Besides, I wasn't even paying attention; I was trying to deduce which of you would end up winning."

Upset at the statement, but not having time to waste, Melissa helped Shimura stand up and they both left the stands...

And the acidic girl smirked, watching a pink blob of something going up Shimura's leg.

* * *

"ON THIS CORNER, THE DAUGHTER OF A FAMOUS SUPPORT SPECIALIST, AND A GREAT POTENTIAL HERO HERSELF! CLASS 1-A'S MELISSA SHIELD!"

"AND ON THIS CORNER, A MEEK GUY WHO HAS MANAGED TO SURPRISE US SO FAR! ALSO FROM CLASS 1-A, TENKO SHIMURA!"

The audience roared with joy, and Shimura flinched, covering his ears until the noises calmed down. He took a couple deep breaths and then uncovered his ears just in time to hear Melissa blurt:

"Tenko..."

The boy lifted his head and saw Melissa giving him a reassuring smile.

"It's going to be okay."

The guy nodded, and took an uneasy battle stance.

"START!"

Melissa charged her legs with some power from One for All, and immediately sprinted towards Shimura, who got ready to sprint as well. He took a couple of steps forward...

And an intense pain shot up from her leg that caused him to hit the ground face-first.

Seeing this, Melissa braked right in front of the guy and helped him stand up, only for him to scream in pain as he put force on his pained leg. Melissa raised his pants up, and he quickly noticed the reason why was because his foreleg had a nasty acid burn, even having a couple holes that showed visible bone.

"Oh my god!" Midnight gasped.

"IT SEEMS SOMEBODY HAS SABOTAGED SHIMURA! THAT REALLY LOOKS LIKE IT HURTS!"

"I can't watch!"

"TRUST ME, YOUNGLING, YOU DON'T WANNA WATCH!"

Melissa lifted Shimura in a bridal carry and left, leaving Midnight to shout:

"Shimura can't fight any longer! Melissa goes to the next round!"

But there were no shouts of joy, for the audience was too stunned for what had happened.

* * *

At Recovery Girl's infirmary, Shimura took several deep breaths as Melissa grabbed his hand and an enraged Recovery Girl shook her head.

"I just can't believe none of the board saw this coming. Heck, it's unbelievable the principal didn't see this coming!" she growled. "It appears that someone shot something on Shimura's leg and waited until the fight began to activate its acidic properties."

"Ashido!" Melissa stated sternly, clutching Shimura's hand harder. "She caused Tenko to trip before we headed to the arena! She must've been the one to do this!"

Recovery Girl took a deep breath. "Normally I'd be against the idea of blaming someone without evidence, but Mina Ashido's proved to be such a psychopath that I wouldn't be surprised if this was true."

Melissa released Shimura's hand, and once the two bid themselves farewell, she stomped out of Recovery Girl's office and began searching across the stadium for Mina.

"Young Melissa!"

The girl stopped and turned around, spotting not only All Might in his muscular form, but Gran Torino as well.

"Uncle Might! Master Gran Torino!" Melissa bowed at both of them. "It's nice to see you, but I'm kind of busy right now-"

"You're looking for whoever used acid on Young Shimura's leg, aren't you?" All Might guessed.

"Whoever-don't act stupid, Uncle Might!" Melissa snapped. "It was obviously Ashido who did it! There's nobody else with an acid Quirk and crazy enough to do something so cruel!"

"Perhaps, but what do you plan to do once you find her?" Gran Torino folded his arms. "Will you beat her black and blue before her fight with Kendo? That sounds like it'll give you more trouble than it's worth."

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Melissa growled. "She hurt Tenko, blowing holes in his leg! She deserves some kind of punishment!"

"Listen, Young Melissa, Gran Torino isn't saying that Young Ashido doesn't deserve a punishment; he's saying that beating her up right now, when she still has to go up against Young Kendo, is going to make people wonder who did it," All Might explained. "And even if people agreed that she deserved it, it would still make people fear you at the expense of a short-term payback."

"What!? Why!?"

"That's just how the world works, kid: if you do something bad for a good reason, people will hold you accountable for it no matter how justifiable it is," Gran Torino folded his arms and sighed. "I've had enough experience with this kind of thing to know it."

Melissa gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes... before she frowned and slammed her fist against a wall, causing it to crack slightly.

"Damn you, Ashido!"

* * *

Leaning against the back of a hallway, Mina flinched and looked around with a raised eyebrow.

_How strange, I could've sworn I heard somebody talking about me. But oh well, I should start looking for another place to watch the fights. I can't go back to the stands after Shimura's deal._

Mina put her arms behind her head and began walking down the hallway, searching for any windows that'd allow her a peek at the upcoming fights.

"I'm so glad you could come, Dad!"

The acidic girl stopped and walked closer to the source of the voice. She peeked from behind a corner, and saw Yaoyorozu talking with some guy with red wings and blonde hair.

"Well, when I heard you had reached the tournament portion of the festival, I kinda had to see for my "And no, winning the tournament won't change my mind about your wings, okay?

"But Dad-!"

"I still think it'd be better if you stopped trying to focus on both things at once, and clipped your wings," the man stated in a matter-of-factly tone. "I know it must sound cruel and unfair to you, but I'm only suggesting this because I want what's best for you."

"Keeping my wings is what's best for me!" Yaoyorozu stated. "I'm smart enough to make my Quirk work, I can figure out how to use my wings and my Quirk at the same time too!"

"Momo-"

"You want proof, don't you?! Just watch me during the tournament and you'll see what I mean!"

The man remained silent for a moment, then sighed. "Fine, if you can show me you can use both your Quirk and your wings, I'll consider not clipping them. And speaking of which, your match's about to start, isn't it?"

Yaoyorozu nodded. "Yeah, it is. I gotta go."

The man smiled. "Good luck out there."

Yaoyorozu returned the smile, and Mina managed to avoid being seen by her as she walked to the arena. She kept hiding as the man left as well, hands saved on his pockets.

_I see, so Yaoyorozu's a daddy's girl. Very interesting, but who the heck is her father? I swear I've seen him before, but where?_

"Shoto!"

Mina kept hiding as Todoroki and the muscular fire hero known as Endeavor walked down the same hallway. She was rather surprised at the coincidence, but she decided to keep quiet and watch.

"You've come this far without using my fire, but that can only help you so much!" Endeavor sternly stated. "You have to use your fire eventually, Shoto! If you keep up this silly rebellion-"

"Silly rebellion!? You traumatized Mom into insanity! You got Toya killed because you forced him to learn a technique his body couldn't handle!" Todoroki snapped, shooting an icy glare at Endeavor. "Your fire's nothing more than a curse, and I will never use it! I will win this entire thing without using your fire, and once you swallow your damn pride when I reach first place, you better start seeing your fire for the menace it truly is!"

With that said, the father and son separated, and Mina came out of hiding.

_So one of the recommended students is a daddy's girl, while the other's got daddy issues. What an interesting dichotomy between those two._

Mina smirked maliciously.

_And what a delightful fact's that Endeavor's just around the corner..._

* * *

"ON THIS CORNER, A WINGED HEROINE WITH THE POWER TO CREATE ANYTHING! A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR CLASS 1-A'S MOMO YAOYOROZU!"

"Go Yaoyorozu!" Midoriya shouted.

"Why are you cheering for someone from a different class?!" Monoma snapped.

"Well, she cheered for him on his fight," Kendo pointed out. "I think it's only fair at least Midoriya does the same."

"AND ON THIS CORNER, HIS BURNING RAGE AND HIS COLD SHOULDER COMBINE TO CREATE A DEVASTATING COMBO! ALSO FROM CLASS 1-A, SHOTO TODOROKI!"

"Todoroki, before we begin, I'd like to tell you it's nothing personal," Yaoyorozu stated before crouching down and spreading her wings. "But my father's watching me, so I must come out of this fight victorious!"

Todoroki clenched his fist, his eyes obscured by his hair. "Your... father's... watching... you...?"

Yaoyorozu raised a concerned eyebrow. "Todoroki?"

He gritted his teeth. "Father's... watching..."

"START!"

Todoroki raised his right foot, and calmly exclaimed:

"Watch and gape, Dad!"

He slammed his foot down, and from the spot emerged what could only be described as a "fuck you" sized iceberg, almost covering the entire stadium. The audience reeled back, including both hero course classes, watching their reflections against the sharp, and dangerously close spikes of the iceberg.

_G-Geez, that T-Todoroki went kinda overboard..._ Midoriya thought, sweating bullets.

_I had a feeling Todoroki was strong..._ Melissa grimaced, catching her breath as a spike was inches away from her nose._ But nothing like this!_

_This guy needs some kind of limiter ASAP!_ Hatsume mentally noted, writing down schematics for such a device without looking away from the iceberg.

Back on the arena, Todoroki took a couple deep breaths as he felt the right side of his body

"W-Well, it looks like Present Mic's been endered speechless, so I'll talk in his behalf! M-Midnight, where's Yaoyorozu?!"

Midnight, who got encased in ice as a consequence of the iceberg, tried to break free before responding, "Um, I'm kinda stuck at the moment, but-"

"I'm here!"

Everybody looked up, and to their absolute shock, Yaoyorozu was flying down the spiral of ice, her eyes meeting with Todoroki's as the half-redhead half-whitehead stared in shock.

"Unbelievable! Yaoyorozu has not only survived the giant ice attack, but seems to have prepared some kind of counterattack!"

_It... can't be..._ Todoroki thought as Yaoyorozu flew closer and closer to him. _She dodged my ice... nobody's ever done that before-_

Todoroki's thoughts were interrupted when he was picked by Yaoyorozu, then flung out of the arena, with Yaoyorozu landing right at the edge before she retracted her wings.

"Todoroki is out of bounds! Yaoyorozu goes to the next round!"

"H-How..." Todoroki asked as he stood up. "How did you dodge my ice?"

"Simple, I flew up before you slammed your foot down."

Todoroki turned, and saw Yaoyorozu near him, offering a hand.

"And if it helps you feel a little better, if I had been a second too late, you probably would've encased me."

The half-redhead half-whitehead boy sighed and accepted the offer. "Good fight, Yaoyorozu."

"Hey, your little talk's sweet and all, but um," Midnight blurted loudly. "There's still a giant iceberg covering the stadium!"

"Oh, right, sorry, I'll take care of it!"

Todoroki ran up to free Midnight and melt the iceberg, and as he did, Yaoyorozu watched him go with a little smile, a sense of pride surging through her.

* * *

"Great work, Yaoyorozu!"

The winged girl turned around and saw none other than Midoriya approaching her. With him came the uneasy pair of Melissa and Hatsume; the former clutching her chest while the latter finished her schematics.

"Thanks a lot, Midoriya," Yaoyorozu replied, flashing a little smile. "Although, I'm a little bit upset that I couldn't use my Quirk during that fight."

"Right, we were told your Quirk was something completely different from your wings," Hatsume remarked, not taking her eyes off her schematics.

"But why would you be upset?" Melissa asked. "From the looks of it, your wings were more than enough to win that fight. Without them, you would've become a popsicle!"

"Perhaps, but..." Yaoyorozu took a deep breath and put a hand on her chest. "My father's got this idea that if I keep both the mutation and my Quirk, that I'll end up being subpar at both. So, he wants to clip my wings in order for me to focus more on my Quirk."

"Well, his idea is understandable: having two completely different powers would require you to ignore one to fully capitalize on the other, or try to work with boths and come out just average," Midoriya scratched his chin. "Still, though, you could just simply focus on your Quirk and that could be the end of it-"

"But I wanna focus on both, Midoriya!" Yaoyorozu stated, causing the boy to flinch and lean back. "I don't want to just be able to fly or just be able to create everything! I want to be able to both fly and be able to create everything!"

"That's quite an ambition you got there," Melissa scratched her chin. "But have you even managed to work around using both at the same time?"

"I... kinda have..." Yaoyorozu scratched the back of her head. "I need to focus on what I'm creating in order to make it, but I also need to focus on my wings in order to keep up my flight."

Midoriya lowered his eyelids. "Now I see the problem."

And as the group kept talking, Shiozaki and Kaminari walked past them, heading for the arena. Shiozaki stopped for a moment and turned to look at the sight of Midoriya conversing with the girls.

For some strange reason, what would normally upset her made her feel... indifferent, instead. She once shoved her vines up Mina's butt for getting too close to Midoriya, but now he was surrounded by three girls and she didn't even feel like lifting a finger.

Regardless, that would be something for another day. For now, she had a fight to do.

* * *

"ON THIS CORNER, THE ONLY THING MORE SHOCKING THAN HIS POWERS IS HIS CONSTANT FLIRTING ON THE BATTLEFIELD! CLASS 1-A'S DENKI KAMINARI!"

"AND ON THIS CORNER, HER FAITH IS HER ULTIMATE WEAPON! CLASS 1-B'S IBARA SHIOZAKI!"

"Say, I know we're from different classes, but would you like to go eat something when this is over?" Kaminari said before shooting a wink at Shiozaki. "I'll treat you!"

_Is he seriously flirting with me before the fight? Well, if that's the game he wants to play..._ Shiozaki took a deep breath. "Fine then, I'll go on a pity date with you once I win!"

A short silence passed...

"W-Wait, t-that's not-!"

"START!"

"Alright then, let's see you win!" Kaminari smirked as electricity surged across him.

Shiozaki quickly turned around and created a wall of vines behind her, blocking Kaminari's barrage of lighting until it was safe to look outside. Shiozaki took a peek from behind the wall... and held back her laughter as she saw Kaminari, with an utterly idiotic look on his face, flash a pair of thumbs up while saying "wheeey!" with a notably deeper tone of voice.

"So, uh, I guess he's out of commission?" Midnight raised an eyebrow. "How long does it take you to go back to normal, Kaminari?"

"Wheey!" was all Kaminari said.

"Well, sadly, we don't have enough time for that," Midnight raised her whip. "Shiozaki goes to the next round!"

The audience cheered as Shiozaki calmed down, and eventually grimaced at her realization:

_Dang it, now I'll have to go on a date with that guy!_


	20. Mind Games

With the last three fights soon to happen, Present Mic wasted no time introducing the next fighters.

"ON THIS CORNER, YOU MAY KNOW HER AS THE APPRENTICE TO A CERTAIN STAIN, AND A REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE! ALSO A HORROR WAITING TO HAPPEN, BUT NOBODY LISTENS TO ME ANYWAY! IT'S CLASS 1-A'S MINA ASHIDO!"

"AND ON THIS CORNER, THE ONE PERSON KEEPING ALL OF CLASS 1-B TOGETHER, AND THEIR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT IN HARD TIMES! IT'S THE MOTHER OF CLASS 1-B, ITSUKA KENDO!"

"So, Kendo, it's been a while since we've last talked," Mina spoke with a friendly, yet menacing tone. "How's your arm? Has it healed yet?"

Kendo put a hand on her arm and growled, "It's healed enough to let me fight."

"I sure hope so," Mina raised an eyebrow. "And have you tried to do anything with Midoriya? Because I'm certain I gave you a clear message-"

"There's nothing romantic going on between me and Midoriya!" Kendo narrowed her eyes. "There never was, nor will there ever be!"

"Are you sure about that?" Mina smirked. "He's getting so many potential girlfirends lately, I wouldn't be surprised if you joined the harem!"

"START!"

Mina bolted straight for Kendo, her arms outstretched as Kendo cracked her knuckles and took a defensive position.

Once she got close enough, Mina coated her fingers in acid and swung them like claws, each hit narrowly missing the redhead before she enlarged one of her hands and trapped Mina in it. She reeled it back, ready to throw the pink girl out of the arena, but a burning sensation caused Kendo to open her hand, release Mina, and shrink her hand back down as Mina landed right behind her and grabbed her free arm.

Right in the same spot she got burned before.

"Do you remember this, Kendo?" Mina chuckled as she began dripping acid on the arm. "Last time, I was more than happy to let you go off without a warning. But this time..."

Mina tightened her grip. "There's only one thing you can say to keep your arm."

Kendo gritted her teeth, trying to bear the pain long enough to think of a plan. However, it was when the acid began dripping into her bones that she screamed:

"I concede!"

Midnight raised her whip. "Kendo has conceded! Ashido goes to the next round!"

Mina released Kendo's arm and patted her back. "Good girl, I'm glad to see you're still cooperative."

Kendo gritted her teeth and shot a glare at Mina as both she and the acidic girl left the arena, all while the baffled audience watched them.

* * *

"That was a very dirty trick you pulled on Kendo, Ashido," Yaoyorozu sternly stated.

"Everything's fair on love and war, Yaoyorozu, and the Sports Festival is the ultimate war," Mina calmly responded. "Sure, it's a war to get noticed by the pro-heroes, but it's a war nonetheless."

"And you're about to get noticed in the worst way possible," Bakugou stated.

"Better that than not getting noticed at all," Mina folded her arms. "Speaking of being noticed, you're up next, Kirishima. Give it your all, alright?"

Kirishima sighed as he stood up. "Yeah, I know. Wish me luck everyone."

Kirishima left the stands, and Bakugou waved goodbye before he turned to face Mina, who gave the redhead a wink before she turned back to see the explosive blonde glaring at her.

"What?"

"You're not going to do anything when he loses, right?"

"Ohoho, Bakugou, what are you saying?" Mina lowered her eyelids. "There's no way Kirishima would lose to a shirmp like that support student."

Speaking of the support student, Mineta walked down the hallways as he headed to the arena, his hands on his pockets.

_Okay, Mineta, you're about to go out and face off against a hero course student, right in front of the pro-heroes of Japan. It's nothing to worry about! It's just every person in the most popular occupation in the world judging you for a chance to become their intern... actually, now that I think about it, do support students get internships like hero students?_

Just then, the guy heard someone growling in exasperation, and he stopped. He turned around, and saw none other than Eri, sitting on a bench with a tired expression.

_Oh hey, it's the girl who split the arena into three. What's she doing here?_

"Would you stop staring at me?" Eri sternly asked.

Mineta took a step back, but quickly regained his composure. "You're still upset over what happened at the past event, aren't you?"

Eri rolled her eyes. "Why yes, I'm upset about that. Thanks for reminding of that."

"I-I didn't mean to, I just didn't want to jump to conclusions," Mineta took a deep breath. "If it makes you feel any better, I think your strategy was actually pretty good. Heck, I don't think most of us would've passed if you hadn't created those fire walls-"

"And that's thing: everybody but me went to the next round!" Eri put her hand on her cheek. "It was my chance to make a good impression on the teachers and I blew it!"

Mineta raised an eyebrow. "Okay, this might be a dumb question, but why do you wanna make a good impression on the teachers? Shouldn't you try make a good impression on the other pro-heroes?"

"Don't you know anything? The Sports Festival isn't just a chance for hero course students to get internship offers," Eri turned to Mineta, folding her arms. "It's also a chance for those in the other courses, primarily general education, to earn a chance to become a member of one of the hero course classes."

"And in order to do it, you'd need to show the teachers you do have the potential to be a pro-hero," Mineta continued. "And your idea to do that was to split the arena in three with your fire walls and snatch Melissa's headband?"

"Exactly," Eri smiled, though it quickly turned into a frown. "But my entire idea got ruined when time ran out, so I'm probably going to stay in general education."

Mineta scratched his head. "Well, if you don't mind me asking, why did you apply for general education if you wanted to be a hero?"

"My Quirk stockpiles power, but it takes a really long time to do it," Eri sighed. "The time limit provided in the exam wasn't long enough to show what I'm capable of, so I applied for general education and waited until the sports festival to prove my worth."

"COULD THE FIGHTERS PLEASE PRESENT THEMSELVES AT THE ARENA, PLEASE?!"

"They're calling for you," Eri took a deep breath. "You should go. Otherwise, you're gonna be disqualified."

"Yeah... good talk."

Mineta kept walking to the arena, and once he had left, Eri looked at where he had gone and stood up, before walking back to her stand.

* * *

"ON THIS CORNER, A SUPPORT COURSE STUDENT WHOSE GADGETS PROVES HE'S ALL BALLS TO THE WALL! A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR MINORU MINETA!"

"Woo! Go Mineta!" Hatsume chirped.

"AND ON THIS CORNER, THE EMBODIMENT OF MANLINESS, OR SO HE'D LIKE YOU TO BELIEVE! IT'S CLASS 1-A'S EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!"

"Show him the might of the hero course, Kirishima!" Mina shouted, raising her fists.

"You're not in any position to say anything about the hero course, Pinky," Bakugou hissed.

"Shut up and cheer Kirishima on!"

Kirishima looked at Mina's cheering and sighed before he turned back to Mineta. "Look, don't listen to what she says, okay? Let's just give it our best."

"Agreed, and I hope you don't mind," Mineta reached for his back, and took out a blaster-like gadget, with four tubes connecting to the purple balls that formed his mohawk. "But I'll have to use a little support to give it my all!"

"WHAT'S THIS! IT LOOKS LIKE MINETA HAS BROUGHT A SUPPORT ITEM WITH HIM TO THE BATTLEFIELD! CAN THIS MACHINE HELP HIM EVEN THE DUEL?!"

"Actually, is it even legal?"

"I'll allow it!" Midnight exclaimed.

"IF THAT'S THE CASE, THEN START!"

Kirishima hardened his skin and rushed towards Mineta, who promptly aimed his blaster at him and shot several of his balls at him. Kirishima braked slightly and dodged the incoming balls, slowly but surely getting closer to the purple dwarf.

_I see, the machine automatically plucks off and shoots Mineta's balls, and at a slightly faster rate than if he were to do it with his bare hands._ Hatsume remarked, scratching her chin with a wide smile. _He has a slightly higher chance of injuring his head like this, but as long as he gets one of the balls to hit the opponent, it's a risk worth taking._

Hatsume flashed a proud grin. _I can't wait to fight it!_

Mina, meanwhile, looked dumbfounded at the spectacle. She wasn't exactly sure what she was looking at, but she knew she didn't like it.

Finally, at the general education stands, Shinsou and Eri watched the fight with interest. "Huh, looks like the little purple dwarf got something on his mind," Shinsou said with a raised eyebrow. "This oughta be interesting, right?"

Eri said nothing, knowing what Shinsou's Quirk could do, so she instead nodded and kept watching silently.

Back with the fight, Kirishima got close enough to punch Mineta, but before he could do that, the guy dodged the strike and jumped into one of the balls in the arena, jumping up and down on it repeatedly as he gestured Kirishima to go after him.

Accepting the challenge, Kirishima smiled and chased after Mineta, who jumped to another ball once Kirishima got close enough. He did this again, and again, and this continued until they were both close to the edges of the arena.

Once there, Kirishima threw another punch, but rather than jump to another ball, Mineta jumped over Kirishima, got on his back, and jumped off, sending him straight out of the boundaries and into the grassfield.

"Kirishima is out of bounds!" Midnight proclaimed as she raised her whip. "Mineta goes to the next round!"

Mineta took off the gadget, jumped down to the grass, and helped Kirishima stand up. "Hey, good fight back there."

"Yeah, same to you," Kirishima said with a proud smile. "I gotta say, you totally caught me off-guard with that jump. Hey, think you could make a gadget for me sometime?"

Mineta shrugged and smiled. "Sure, just ask for permission, tell me what you need, and I'll see what I can do."

Kirishima patted Mineta's back, and the duo went back to the stands, laughing all the while.

* * *

"Oh my goodness, Mineta, I'm so happy for you!" Hatsume shouted joyously as she hugged Mineta as tightly as she could. "Good work out there!"

"Thanks!" Mineta said, his voice muffled by the hug. "I bet you're gonna do amazing on your match, too!"

"Oh, right, my match!" Hatsume put Mineta down and grabbed her toolbox. "I need to go get a couple of things ready for it! Be back in a bit!"

Hatsume ran off, and Mineta sat back down on his seat.

"H-Hey."

The purple dwarf turned around, and Eri was standing right near him. "Oh hey, the girl from general education-"

"Eri." she played with her hair. "My name's Eri."

"Eri, then," Mineta raised an eyebrow. "What do you need?"

Eri twiddled her fingers and avoided eye contact with Mineta. "W-Well, I watched your fight, a-and I just wanted to say... you did good out there."

Mineta smiled. "Why, thank you."

Eri looked at Mineta, and she barely saw his smile for a second before she hastily said, "W-Well, that's all I wanted to say! G-Good luck on your match!"

Eri ran off soon after, and a confused Mineta could only ask, "What just happened?"

Meanwhile, over on Kirishima's end, the redheaded guy scratched the back of his head and laughed as he sat down. "Man, that was quite a defeat, wasn't it?"

"You can say that again," Sero answered. "That little guy made you go all over the place and then he pushed you out of the arena like that."

"I kinda wonder," Uraraka scratched her cheek. "Would hardening your back have helped?"

"Unlikely," Yaoyorozu shook her head. "The increased weight from the hardening would've increased Kirishima's weight-"

"What the hell..."

Everybody turned around, and next thing they knew, Mina was right up in Kirishima's face, lifting him by the neck of his shirt as she yelled:

"What the hell was that pathetic showing, Kirishima!? Why didn't you kick that supporter's ass when you had the chance!?"

"M-Mina, calm down!" Kirishima replied, hardening his skin.

"How am I supposed to calm down after you made such a massive screw up!?"

Bakugou put a hand on Mina's shoulder. "That's enough, Pinky-"

"Don't touch me, you little shit!" Mina hissed, releasing Kirishima and using the same arm to slap Bakugou's hand away. "First you hold back enough to let Midoriya go to the next round, and now you want me to calm down after Kirishima let that little midget win!?"

Uraraka frowned, while everybody else, including Yaoyorozu, widened their eyes. "Bakugou held back?"

"Bakugou's Howitzer Impact gathers oxygen and stuff to power the explosion he unleashes after the spiral," Uraraka explained, getting everyone's attention. "However, like with most of his explosions, Bakugou can choose not to blow up all of the stuff he's accumulated; however, doing this causes a heavy toll on his body."

Yaoyorozu turned back to Bakugou. "So, the Howitzer Impact he did against Midoriya..."

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "If I wanted, I could've unleashed an even bigger, even stronger explosion, that even the enhancement your feather gave to Deku's wings would've done nothing to protect him."

"Yes, you could've, but you didn't, and Midoriya's still in this stupid tournament!" Mina hissed, spitting venom as she leaned forward until she was face-to-face with the explosive blonde. "And again I ask, why would you do something so idiotic!?"

Bakugou, without warning, smacked foreheads with Mina hard enough to send her straight into the wall separating the hero courses, with the rest of Class 1-A watching in shock.

"You... you dare-"

"I allowed Deku to win for a couple, simple reasons," Bakugou smirked. "For starters, it pisses you off."

Mina gritted her teeth and growled... for about a second before Bakugou grabbed the neck of her shirt and lifted her.

"Secondly, remember what I said about me fucking you up once you crossed the line? Well, letting Deku win was precisely what I meant by that: I've noticed how you've grown scared of him since the festival started. How you tried to avoid him, how you were vehement on me defeating him, and how, once he beat me, you froze up and began to panic on the inside."

"W-What the hell are you talking about!?" Mina spat. "I'm not scared of that little jerk!"

"I'm pretty sure you are."

Everybody turned to see the source of the voice; Melissa. "I saw you shaking and everything when the obstacle course was over, and before the arena was split into three, I saw you watching Midoriya with caution."

Mina narrowed her eyes. "Melissa, you traitorous bitch..."

"And finally, the most important reason, is because you deserve to get fucked up by Deku," Bakugou continued. "You've already done so much bullshit to hurt him and his friends, that even I feel disgusted by the fact we share a father."

"You what?!" the rest of Class 1-A exclaimed.

"It's a long story that I didn't want to bother to tell, because as far as I'm concerned, this little shit isn't my sister; she's just an asshole who pulls dick moves left and right for her own amusement," Bakugou dropped Mina on the ground. "And now, it's time for all those moves to catch up to her."

With his words spoken, Bakugou walked back to his seat and sat down, all while Mina looked at him with a rabid glare. She didn't do anything besides sit back down, but as the wait for the final fight began, an uneasy tension filled the 1-A stands.

* * *

And thus, in the blink of an eye, the final battle arrived.

"ON THIS CORNER, FROM GENERAL EDUCATION, HE'S SOMEONE WHO TRAINED SO HARD TO BE A HERO, HE KINDA FORGOT TO TAKE A SNOOZE! IT'S HITOSHI SHINSOU!"

"AND ON THIS CORNER, FROM THE SUPPORT COURSE, THE MOST ENTHUSIASTIC GADGETEER YOU'LL EVER MEET! IT'S MEI HATSUME!"

Hatsume finished adjusting the arm brace when she heard Shinsou's voice speaking:

"So, we meet again, huh?"

Hatsume shot a glare at Shinsou, but the boy kept talking undeterred.

"I gotta say, this match up really put a wrench in my plans. I was planning to use the information I got to try gain an advantage over that Midoriya guy you told me about. But clearly, that's not what happened."

Hatsume narrowed her eyes.

"Now, I'm facing you instead, and you seem to have a sweet little gadget to give me a beating for what I did. And I don't blame you... but you can't blame me either."

"START!"

"Just think about it: I don't know what your Quirk did, but it probably helped you with the support course, right?"

Hatsume lowered her head, looking saddened at the mention of her lost eyes, before she regained her composure and got ready to run.

"I'm almost the same: my Quirk would be completely useless against the robots we faced at the entrance exam. I could get someone else to destroy one for me, but that would only help them, and I'd be left in the dust."

Shinsou looked at the ground and frowned.

"I don't expect you to understand... I don't expect anybody to understand... but I really wanted to get into the hero course, to prove that, even if my Quirk was villainous, that didn't mean I couldn't be a hero... even if I had to resort to underhanded tricks to do it. I was hoping that impressing the school enough to get a ticket to the hero course would at least help justify my methods, even if they were inexcusable."

Hatsume raised her head, and began walking towards him as both Class 1-A and Class 1-B frowned at Shinsou's continue statement:

"The hero course has it so easy, with all its flashy members with their flashy, powerful Quirks. Even the less useful ones like a simply upgrade to their defense makes them perfect heroes in the eyes of the world. And then there are people like me, people whose Quirks have been stereotyped to be stuff worthy of villains. Stuff that, assuming you have it, your only real future is as a villain."

Midoriya lowered his eyelids. "Shinsou..."

"I do understand."

Midoriya. his classmates, the audience and even Shinsou flinched as they saw Hatsume was right in front of Shinsou, ready to throw a punch.

"But you still ruined my trust, so I can't help you get to the hero course now."

Hatsume threw a punch, and her brace glew before it increased the force of the punch by twice its output, sending Shinsou right out of bounds and into the soft grass below.

"Shinsou is out of bounds!" Midnight exclaimed. "Hatsume goes to the next round!"

"Ugh, dang it," the insomniac-looking guy spoke as he got up. "I ruined someone's trust, and even the trust of one of my upperclassmen, for nothing."

"Maybe today, but not always."

Shinsou looked up, and once again, Hatsume was right nearby, this time offering a hand to him.

"Look, my trust is still pretty hurt, so every time you talk I'll do my best to not respond... but, I also understand your plight, so, how about I make you a support item to help you get to the hero course?"

Shinsou accepted the hand, and fully stood up. "You'd be willing to help me even after everything I did?"

Hatsume smiled. "That's what the support course is for, right?"

Shinsou smiled, nodded, and he and Hatsume shook hands before they left the arena, just in time for Mic to chime in:

"AND THAT DOES IT FOR THE FIRST ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT! WE'LL TAKE A HALF HOUR BREAK AND RETURN WITH EVEN MORE EXCITING ACTION!"


	21. The Second Round

1.) Izuku Midoriya Vs. Ochako Uraraka

2.) Melissa Shield Vs. Momo Yaoyorozu

3.) Ibara Shiozaki Vs. Mina Ashido

4.) Minoru Mineta Vs. Mei Hatsume

"So I'm going to be fighting Uraraka, and Shiozaki's going to fight..." Midoriya lowered his eyelids with concern. "Mina..."

"Don't worry, Midoriya, I'm pretty sure that Shiozaki's going to have this in the bag," Melissa spoke, putting a hand on the swan knight's shoulder. "The only reason Mina even got close enough to force Kendo to give up was because she was a close range combatant."

"Yeah, Shiozaki seems to be one of those people who can attack from all ranges," Hatsume gave the boy a thumbs up. "I'm sure she'll be fine!"

"I sure hope so," Midoriya snapped his fingers. "Speaking of which, you're going to fight Mineta. Do you think you'll have this in the bag too?"

Hatsume hummed and folded her arms. "I don't know, honestly. I mean, the arm brace I made for my match against Shinsou has one more use, but he does have that ball-throwing machine gun of his, and who knows what he might be planning."

"So, in short, nobody will know until the match itself," Melissa summarized. "As for me, I'll be fighting Yaoyorozu... this could be tough."

"I can believe that," Midoriya folded his arms. "Not only does Yaoyorozu have the ability to fly thanks to her wings, but she can also create stuff out of her body."

"So what? Melissa has-"

Melissa and Midoriya hastily shushed Hatsume, and once they verified nobody was looking at them, they talked in whispers:

"She's got One for All!"

"That's not an automatic win for me, Hatsume! I still haven't managed to control it's full power yet, I'm barely at twelve percent!"

"That sounds good enough to at least put Yaoyorozu on the defensive. And if you can get her on the defensive, all you gotta do is tire her out or take her out of the ring and boom, you win!"

"She can still fly, Hatsume. And even if I could do something to alter her senses a bit, it wouldn't last long enough to-"

"Why are you guys whispering?"

The trio flinched and separated, calming down once they saw the people who said that was none other than Uraraka and Yaoyorozu, both looking slightly concerned.

"O-Oh, it's nothing!" Midoriya stammered. "W-We were just talking about the fact we'll be facing you soon."

"You're right," Uraraka remarked, taking a closer look at the board. "My fight with Midoriya's first, and after that comes your fight with Melissa, Yaoyorozu."

"That seems to be the case," Yaoyorozu walked up to Melissa and extended her hand. "We may be from the same class, but I'm not going to go easy on you."

Melissa smiled and shook hands with the swan girl. "Same with you. I didn't get to fight Tenko, so I might as well give it my all against you instead."

"I'll be looking forward to it," Yaoyorozu turned to Uraraka. "Now, is there something you wanna tell your opponent, Uraraka?"

The brunette turned to Midoriya, walked close to him, and bowed before she said, "I'm gonna give it all in our fight. And don't think that just because you defeat Bakugou that I'm going to be scared of you."

"Hehe, got it," Midoriya scratched his chin. "By the way, I noticed Bakugou looking at you and Mina during my match with him. Do you two have history together?"

Uraraka smiled, and lowered her eyelids. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

The brunette winked, and left with Yaoyorozu, who waved goodbye and blew a kiss at Midoriya, glancing at Hatsume to see if she would react. Sadly, the most the pink-haired girl did was look at the swan girl confused.

_Oh come on, that was a clear declaration of war! Isn't she taking this seriously?!_

"Well, I gotta go get prepared for my fight," Melissa blurted, getting the duo's attention. "Bye Hatsume, bye Midoriya, good luck with your matches!"

The teenagers waved goodbye, and Melissa eventually left the room and the pair alone.

"Midoriya?" Hatsume blurted. "There's something I want to ask you."

The boy turned to the gadgeteer and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, sure, Hatsume, what do you need?"

"I think you should let Uraraka help you activate your wings."

Midoriya blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

Hatsume nodded. "You heard me. I think it would be a nice idea to ask her to help you activate your wings."

"But Hatsume, the boots you made for me already let me do that on my own: if I ask Uraraka for help-"

"You won't get to show off the boots I made, I know, but," Hatsume lowered her head and smiled. "When I saw you and Uraraka together, I saw something in her eyes. Something that makes me think she might want you to believe you can trust her." Hatsume raised her head. "And what better way to prove that, than by letting her help you use your wings?"

Midoriya thought about it for a moment, then nodded with a little smile. "Alright, Hatsume, if you say so."

Hatsume returned the smile. "Good, now, I think there's a fight you need to prepare for."

* * *

"ON THIS CORNER! HE HAS MADE AN IMPRESSION, BUT CAN HE KEEP GOING UP?! IT'S CLASS 1-B'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!"

"VERSUS! SHE'S ALREADY PROVED TO BE QUITE CRAFTY! WILL SHE GIVE A NEW MEANING TO THE PHRASE "GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION"?! IT'S CLASS 1-A'S OCHAKO URARAKA!"

"Hey, Uraraka, can I ask you something?" Midoriya inquired.

"We need to wait until the battle actually starts, so," Uraraka shrugged. "I dunno, wait a little and then ask me?"

"Okay then."

"START!"

"Could you help me activate my wings?"

The entire stadium fell silent at the statement, with Uraraka in particular looking almost dumbfounded before she shook it off and smiled brightly, "S-Sorry, what did you say?"

"I'm not so sure how much longer Hatsume's boots can take, and to be fair, it was thanks to you that I got the chance to show off my Quirk back on the first week of school," Midoriya folded his arms and tilted his head. "So, I thought, why not do something like that again? For old times sake?"

Uraraka chuckled. "Old times sake, you speak as if that happened years ago. But okay, if you really want my help, I'll give it to you."

"Somebody tell me this isn't happening," Mina growled, scratching her head. "He asked his opponent for help and she accepted?! What kind of madman would allow this to happen!?"

"The same madman that'd allow you to participate in the sports festival at all," Bakugou quipped.

"I'm serious here, Bakugou!" Mina snapped, turning back to the arena. "If this was a real fight, Midoriya's request for help would get him killed!"

"Except this is a real fight, and Uraraka's nowhere near that bad," Bakugou sternly stated. "Now shut up and watch the fight."

Back on the arena, Uraraka touched Midoriya, and the boy glowed pink before he began levitating into the sky. After a couple seconds, Uraraka released him, and Midoriya's wings materialized as he fell and dived straight for the brunette.

However, moments before they clashed, Uraraka flashed a satisfied expression, and in his confusion, Midoriya's dive was dodged by Uraraka, who promptly jumped and landed right on his back, grabbing his wings before forcing him to fly up.

"WHAT A SHOCK! AFTER HELPING HER OPPONENT SUMMON HIS WINGS, OCHAKO URARAKA HAS TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF HIS LOWERED GUARD AND IS USING HIM AS A MOUNT!"

"I didn't see that coming!"

"Neither did I!" Midoriya exclaimed, trying to shake Uraraka off his back. "What are you doing, Uraraka?"

"I'm sorry, Midoriya, but this is a fight first and foremost!" Uraraka grabbed the boy's wings and made him dive down. "And even if I have to fight dirty, I have to win at all costs!"

Midoriya looked down and saw Uraraka was making him dive straight for the ground.

"Not if I can help it!"

The boy spun around for a moment, and eventually took a sharp turn to rise, causing Uraraka to lose her balance and crash on the grass.

"Uraraka is out of bounds!" Midnight stated, pointing at the flying boy. "Midoriya goes to the next round!"

As the audience cheered and roared in applause, Uraraka rubbed her head and groaned as a shadow loomed over her. This turned out to be Midoriya's shadow, with the guy offering her help to stand up.

With a chuckle, the brunette accepted the help, and the duo went back to the stands.

* * *

"Well, Uraraka, if there's one good thing I can say about that fight, is that your strategy was fairly solid," Mina remarked as Uraraka sat on the stands. "However, in terms of everything else-"

Kirishima put a hand on Mina's shoulder. "Mina, let it go. Nobody cares at this point."

The pink girl looked shocked at the redhead, but she quickly composed herself and turned to two particular students. "Yaoyorozu, Melissa, your fight is up next, right?"

"An interesting match up, no doubt," Bakugou sighed as everybody else turned to look at the duo. "One's got wings, the other's got... whatever Glasses does."

"Um, I thought I was "Glasses" to you," Iida spoke.

"Girl Glasses, then."

Speaking of Girl Glasses-sorry, Melissa-she turned to Yaoyorozu with a concerned look, then turned to the stands of the pro-heroes, where she could spot the red-winged man from before, looking particularly bored.

_Yep, there's no doubt about it, Yaoyorozu's father simply has to be Hawks._ Melissa turned back to Yaoyorozu. _Still, there's only one way I can confirm my theory._

"Yaoyorozu, can I talk with you in private?"

The girl with the black wings looked surprised for a moment, but she quickly shrugged it off and followed Melissa deeper into the stadium. They walked down a couple hallways, until they found a darkened alley where they could hide and speak without being interrupted.

"Alright, so, this might come out of the blue, but I just need to know," Melissa spoke, twiddling her fingers. "Your wings bring to mind a peculiar pro-hero, so I was wondering-"

"Yes, Hawks is my father."

Melissa paused, and blinked twice. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Shield, you're not the first one, nor the last one, to wonder about my parentage and since everybody's going to ask me who's my father eventually, I was thinking of revealing his identity to someone just to take the weight off my shoulders," Yaoyorozu calmly explained, gaining a smile as she added, "And since you seem to be at least able to keep secrets to yourself, after all nobody knows what's up with your Quirk, I figured I could reveal his identity to you without issue."

"Wait, you told me this to keep it a secret?" Melissa asked, her confusion slowly being replaced by excitement.

"That's assuming people haven't figured it out yet, anyway; it doesn't take a genius to figure out the connection," Yaoyorozu folded her arms. "Regardless, now that I've told you who he is, I want to ask you to keep his identity a secret. The last thing I need right now is to be bombarded by the media or my curious classmates."

"Keep it a secret?" Melissa scratched the back of her head. "I'm not that good with secrets, actually-"

"Too bad, because now you gotta keep this one to yourself," Yaoyorozu turned around and began walking away. "Anyhow, we got a match to fight, so that'll be the end of this conversation."

"Huh? Oh, right."

Then, Yaoyorozu stopped. "By the way, if you tell anybody who my father is, I'll sue you."

Melissa winced, and Yaoyorozu kept walking.

_I get the feeling she's bluffing, but still..._

* * *

"ON THIS CORNER! SHE DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO SHOW HER TRICKS LAST FIGHT, WILL SHE FINALLY GET HER CHANCE TO SHINE HERE?! IT'S CLASS 1-A'S MELISSA SHIELD!"

"VERSUS! ALSO FROM CLASS 1-A! CAN HER GENIUS INTELLECT GIVE MELISSA SHIELD A RUN FOR HER MONEY?! IT'S MOMO YAOYOROZU!"

"You know, now that I know who your father is, I'm kind of excited," Melissa confessed as she cracked her knuckles. "I never thought I'd fight the daughter of a pro-hero."

"And I share the same feeling: it'll be interesting to fight an inventor who wishes to be a hero," Yaoyorozu remarked, snapping her fingers as she added. "I know, how about to make it more interesting, I'm only going to use my Quirk, and not my wings?"

Right, her Quirk and her wings are entirely unrelated. Melissa smiled confidently. "Fine by me!"

"START!"

Melissa immediately charged her legs with 7% One for All and ran straight for Yaoyorozu, who reached for the edges of her tank top, ready to lift it to use her Quirk.

Or, as the audience quickly found out, she outright took off her tank top, her stomach glowing as she casually dodged Melissa's rush, then rolled her tank top before smacking Melissa's back with it. She followed this by creating a bo staff from her stomach, then using it to smack Melissa in the head.

Soon afterwards, Melissa regained her footing and turned around to see Yaoyorozu waving her tank top in a similar way to a flag, with it tied on the bo staff for extra measure. Yaoyorozu's smile had a hint of challenge to it, especially when she did the "come at me" gesture.

Understanding the message, Melissa smirked before she rushed once again, Yaoyorozu dodging once again and waving her "flag top" as Melissa braked and tried to rush her again, getting the same results. This continued for a couple of times, leaving the hero course students baffled.

_This feels like a bullfight..._ Midoriya and Hatsume mentally remarked in unison.

"I can't watch this," Mina stated as she stood up and left the stands.

Eventually, Melissa got tired of bulling around and transferred the percentage from her legs to her arms just as she reached the flag top. She swung her fist, and Yaoyorozu blocked the fist with the bo staff, the impact not only shattering it in half, but also sending Yaoyorozu flying away until she created another bo staff and planted it on the ground, using it as a catapult to throw a punch right at Melissa's face.

The ninth inheritor simply blocked the attack with her arms, barely going back a couple of feet as a result.

"Nice shot, Yaoyorozu!" she chirped. "But how much longer will you last against this?!"

Melissa charged her legs again, and instead of rushing forward, she jumped and transferred the power to her arms as she plummeted down. Yaoyorozu spread her wings and flew high, dodging Melissa's ground-shaking attack just in time to fly down and throw an instant counterattack.

She created a seemingly ordinary staff from her stomach, then tried striking Melissa with it. However, the ninth inheritor grabbed the staff and held it in place with ease.

"Is that all you got?" she asked with a smile.

"Truth be told," Yaoyorozu smirked. "This staff has a neat little trick."

Yaoyorozu rolled up the staff, revealing a button right within her reach. She pushed it, and just as Melissa pondered what it did, the staff itself extended far beyond the boundaries of the arena, with Melissa's weight causing it to snap in two, sending her right into the grass.

"Melissa is out of bounds! Yaoyorozu goes to the next round!"

The winged girl dematerialized the staff and took a deep breath before she looked at the pro-heroes stands, right where her father was. However, the expression she saw wasn't of approval, or even anger.

He looked... concerned.

* * *

"I trained you for nearly an entire year, and you wind up beaten by a simple extending staff!" Gran Torino snapped as he repeatedly smacked Melissa's head. "Did you forget the first lesson I ever gave you, kid!?"

"Sorry, Gran Torino, I really am sorry!" Melissa cried, trying her hardest to block the attacks. "I was simply caught off-guard by it, that's all!"

"You wouldn't have been caught off-guard if you had paid attention!"

"Alright, I think that's enough," All Might said as he grabbed the miniature senior and held him in place. "Young Melissa knows what she did wrong, teacher. I don't think you need to go the extra mile."

"Are you sure about that, Toshinori?" Gran Torino folded his arms. "You made the same mistake when you were younger, and it took you twice the beating I was giving her before you realized what you did wrong!"

The muscular man laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Guilty of all charges."

Gran Torino took a deep breath and turned back to Melissa. "As for you, what happened out there? You started on a good foot, but when the staff came, you froze like a deer."

"Honestly, I guess I was just caught off-guard by so many things," Melissa scratched the back of her head. "I mean, mere moments before the fight, I learned the real identity of Yaoyorozu's father-"

"It's Hawks, isn't it?" All Might and Gran Torino asked in unison.

Melissa sighed in relief. "Oh thank god you figured it out on your own!"

"Not that it was very difficult," All Might remarked with pride. "There had been rumors circling around about one of the top ten heroes having a child, with Hawks being one of the most talked about possibilities."

"Still, for him to be so young, and yet be a father," Gran Torino shook his head. "Youngsters these days really take things way too fast."

"Why's that?" Melissa tilted her head. "How old is Hawks?"

* * *

"The answer's the same as it's always been," the man with the red wings, Hawks, sternly stated, folding his arms. "I think you should clips your wings and focus on your Quirk."

"Oh come on, Dad, you saw me out there!" Yaoyorozu whined. "I managed to use my wings _and_ my Quirk, in the same fight!"

"Momo, you used your wings briefly, and then you used your Quirk. You didn't use them at the same time," Hawks lowered his eyelids. "Which is precisely what I'm worried about: if you keep your wings with the ability to fly, you'll have two different powersets to deal with."

"Oh god, not this song and dance again!" Yaoyorozu whined.

"Yes, this song and dance again!" Hawks sternly answered. "And we're gonna dance this specific song all night long until you decide to listen to me!"

"Listen, even if I like dancing, that doesn't mean I'll just dance to the same tune over and over again!"

"You don't have to! The only reason we're repeating this so often is because you stubbornly refuse to see my point!"

"When did this devolve into a bunch of music euphemisms?!"

"I don't know!"

The black-winged girl and the pro-hero took a deep breath and lowered their head. The latter raised his head first, the former keeping her head low as she narrowed her eyes.

"Momo, you know I only want what's best for you-"

"Then why won't you drop this "clip your wings" deal!?" the girl shouted, spreading her wings as she bared her teeth. "Why can't you just see I'm happy the way I am and_ leave it at that_!?"

Yaoyorozu flew off afterwards, only to hit her head on the ceiling. She quickly stood up, dusted herself, and ran off, leaving the man behind to rub his forehead as he leaned against the wall.

"What am I gonna do about that girl?"


	22. Melissa Shield: Origin

Melissa Shield sat on a bench at the highest point of the stadium, looking at her hand with a conflicted expression. She had just come out of her fight with Yaoyorozu, and her little talk with both All Might and Gran Torino.

"What's wrong, kid?"

Speaking of the old hero, he walked up to the girl and sat right next to her.

"Oh, n-nothing, Gran Torino, sir," Melissa scratched the back of her head. "Just thinking about something-"

"It's about your Quirk, isn't it?" Gran Torino raised an eyebrow. "Feeling insecure about it again?"

Melissa flinched. She really had hoped she wasn't so transparent about it, but it looked like she'd need to work on her subtlety a little more.

That, and not ask Hagakure for tips again.

"Yeah, after losing my fight with Yaoyorozu the way I did, I feel like i made joke of... you-know-what," Melissa put a hand on her cheek. "I got this Quirk to become the next symbol of peace, and yet I made a fool of myself out there."

"So did Toshinori when he was your age," Gran Torino chuckled. "If anything, you might be taking the same steps as him without even realizing it."

Melissa raised an eyebrow. "Did he jump at the call too?"

"Oh he sure did, and now that you mention it, neither he nor you have ever told me how _you_ got the Quirk."

Melissa eyed her surroundings. "Is this a safe place to discuss it?"

Gran Torino waved his hand. "Meh, nobody comes here, and besides I got Toshinori outside to act as a bouncer, so we should be fine. Now, how about you explain what happened?"

Melissa took a deep breath. "Well, I had called Uncle Might to come to I-Island in order to test out my latest invention..."

* * *

_All Might, in his muscular form, equipped an arm brace that transformed to fit his arm just like a glove, with Melissa standing by his side as she gave him a thumbs up, which he happily returned._

_He then clenched his fist, reeled back, and shot a hundred percent punch right at a fake mountain._

_Not only did the mountain completely evaporate, but the clouds in the sky were destroyed, revealing a clear, sunny sky._

_But most importantly, the arm brace wasn't even injured._

_"Looks like it works, Young Melissa!" All Might boomed with a laugh._

_The sounds of cameras and bright flashes assaulted Melissa for a second until the flashes were turned off, allowing her to adjust her glasses and dust herself off as a news reporter walked up to her side._

_"And there you see it, folks! The latest invention created by the "Quirkless" inventor, Melissa Shield! An arm brace capable of containing a hundred percent of All Might's power!"_

_The people went "oooh!" and "aaah!" as Melissa rolled her eyes and forced a smile._

_"Now tell us, Melissa Shield!" the reporter spoke, shoving her microphone right on the girl's nose. "What convinced you to do this project?"_

_Melissa pushed the microphone away. "Well, I always saw how Uncle Might constantly keeps holding himself back, because let's be honest: if he walked around at a hundred percent of his power, he could flip all of Japan upside down!"_

_All Might and the reporters laughed, though while the former's sounded genuine, the latter, Melissa noticed, had a hint of condescendance to it._

_"So, in order to at least let him go all out with his punches, I created the arm brace. It's not perfect, since it can only go three tries-now two-before it gets completely destroyed."_

_The reporter raised an eyebrow. "So even the legendary "Quirkless" inventor that's done so many mind-boggling gadgets can't make one that can contain All Might's full power permanently?"_

_Melissa took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes. "Nobody's capable of making that, Quirkless or not. I've come the closest with the arm brace, yes, but it's still just a temporary solution."_

_The reporter hummed. "Well then, what's next in your agenda, Mrs. Shield? Are you finally going to reveal your Quirk to the world? Or are you planning to create a gadget that can give aritificial Quirks to people?"_

_"Alright, interview's over," All Might spoke, grabbing and lifting the girl. "It's been nice talking to all of you, but we got other things to do!"_

_With that said, All Might jumped off the scene, leaving the dumbfounded reporters behind._

* * *

_All Might locked the door and pushed a button, which further enhanced the lock with a cluster of different softwares: passwords, keys, walls, etc._

_"Alright, that should be good enough for now," the number one hero remarked, putting his hands on his hips. "They should leave in a few hours, so until then-"_

_"Ugh..."_

_The number one hero turned around and saw Melissa laying on her bed, face planted on her pillow. He promptly sat on a couch nearby and scratched his cheek, trying to think of something to say._

_"Well, you have to admit, the demonstration went better than expected."_

_Melissa rose from her bed, dusted herself... and shot a sharp glare at All Might, who flinched as the girl stood up and began ranting:_

_"Oh yeah, totally! I especially loved the part where they called me "The QUIRKLESS inventor"! Or the part where they asked me when I was going to reveal my Quirk to the world! Or, even better, how about the part where they asked me when was I going to create a gadget that could give artificial Quirks to people!? At least ask me if I'm anywhere near done with my research on artificial Quirks!"_

_"Calm down, Young Melissa," All Might requested. "I understand if you're angry at the media-"_

_"Not just at the media! I'm also angry with you!"_

_All Might's smile faltered a little. "M-Me?"_

_"From the very start of the interview, there was no way you couldn't notice I was uncomfortable with having my Quirklessness brought, and yet you stood in place, smiling like a giggling idiot until the interviewer went too far! If you had even the slightest bit of common sense, you would've grabbed me and left the scene the instant the reporters arrived!"_

_"Young Melissa-"_

_"But no! Let's just stand in place! Let's force ourselves to smile as the media decides to humilliate me on live television! It's not like I should be upset about, oh I don't know, the fact I was born a powerless freak of nature in a world dominated by freaks of nature with superpowers!"_

_Melissa paced back and forth, rubbing her forehead to try calm herself down as she visibly fumed from her mouth. The man wanted to say something, but considering his previous statement caused this rant, he thought it would be better if he shut up._

_"It must be amazing to be on your shoes, Uncle Might! Seriously! You're loved by everyone, you bring hope wherever you go, and the part that actually matters, you got one of the strongest damn Quirks in existence!"_

_Melissa glanced at a mirror, and after taking a quick look at her reflection, she snapped back at the man._

_"Meanwhile, look at me! I've taken into account what you said! I studied hard! I practiced hard! I've been making gadgets since I could make a toy gun in order to prove that I wasn't hopeless just because I was Quirkless!"_

_Melissa walked up to All Might's face. "And what do I get for it, Uncle Might?! What do I get!?"_

_"Um... uh-"_

_"I get my Quirklessness thrown at my face every single time I make a gadget, or cooperate with someone on a project, or every time I do anything at all! And it's been like that ever since Dad-"_

_Melissa suddenly paused, and she looked downtrotten for a moment before she switched back to anger, and snapped at All Might:_

_"You get the point!"_

_The bespectacled inventor stomped her way to a desk, sat down, and rubbed her forehead some more as she inhaled and exhaled, slowly calming her down until she... stopped._

_"Sorry, Uncle Might."_

_All Might reacted at the statement. Whatever anger the girl had in her prior rant was now just... gone. And replacing it was a mix between sadness, regret, dread, and fear that sent a chill down his spine._

_"It's not your fault the media's like that... it's not your fault I wasn't born like everyone else..."_

_"Young Melissa-"_

_"I just... times like these make me feel so helpless... powerless..."_

_With that one sentence, All Might remembered some words he heard not too long ago:_

_"Think about it: what's the point of giving more power to someone who already has power? Why not give it to rhe powerless minority who'd definitely need it more?"_

_Young Midoriya, even if you had a weird way to say it, you gave me the best advice on how to handle One for All's successor. All Might smiled. And now, it's time I do my part._

_"Young Melissa, what would you say if I told_

_"I'd say you're pulling my leg, and at the worst time to boot!" Melissa sternly responded. "I mean, I just had my Quirklessness thrown at my face, I whined about it to you, I yelled at you even when you had nothing to do with what the reporter said, and now you wanna get my hopes up for what's probably just another piece of advice from you?"_

_All Might shook his head. "No, Young Melissa. This time, I want to give you the offer of a lifetime."_

_"Uncle Might, I know I might be following my Dad's footsteps as a scientist," Melissa chuckled. "But that doesn't mean I want to be your sidekick."_

_"Nonono, it's something greater than that," All Might sighed. "Listen, what I want to offer you, is my Quirk."_

_Melissa lifted her head and turned around, an utterly dumbfounded expression plastered across her face. "I'm sorry, you wanna offer me your what-now?"_

_Steam began coming out of All Might's form. "My Quirk. The Quirk that allowed me to become the number one hero. Just as my own teacher did for me, I want to offer it to you, so you can become my successor."_

_"Okay, no, you definitely have to be pulling my leg: there's no way there exists a Quirk that can be transferred like that!" Melissa stated. "And also, what's with the steam coming out of you?"_

_All Might took a deep breath, and promptly burst into a cloud of steam, prompting Melissa to open the window so the steam would come out. Once it was all gone, what remained was a very skeletal, and also kinda cartoony, All Might._

_"This is why."_

_"Uncle Might! What happened?!" Melissa grabbed her hair. "Why do you look like a guy that just did the nasty with Midnight all night long?!"_

_All Might spat out some blood. "That's one way to describe me, kid."_

_"S-Sorry," Melissa walked up to the man, took out a napkin from her pocket and wiped it over his mouth. "But seriously, are you okay? What's with this form?"_

_"It's my true form," All Might confessed. "The real story is very long, complicated, and kind of a downer. All you need to know, is that in my last big fight, I actually got severely injured, leaving me in this form."_

_"And the muscular version of you?"_

_"Consider it a transformation. It's how I used to look before I got injured, but now it's just a temporary buff that I can maintain for a few hours a day."_

_Melissa frowned, and took a step back. "And you've had this form since your last big fight... wasn't that over a decade ago?"_

_"Eh, I'm not a big fan of keeping track of the years, all you need to know is that it happened a long time ago," All Might took a deep breath and scratched the back of his head. "And, now, well... I want to make you the ninth inheritor of my Quirk."_

_Melissa lowered her head, and a little smile formed in her face... before it was replaced with a frown, which she kept as she raised her head._

_"If you always had the ability to pass down your Quirk... and you knew I was Quirkless... why only offer it to me now?"_

_"Your father and I might've broken apart on good terms, but I didn't want to make him believe I was trying to force you to do something you didn't want to do," All Might explained sadly. "Even at a tender young age, you showed much more interest in machinery and gadgets than heroics. Even when you became a teenager, you still showed interest in the support side of things, and I didn't want to take that away from you."_

_"Then, why me?" Melissa put a hand on her chest. "Why would you give me, of all people, your Quirk?"_

_"Because thanks to my ignorance, you became the butt of jokes in the world of support, even when you did your job much better than anyone else." All Might lowered his head. "The daughter of my sidekick... my best friend... ridiculed for doing something she loved..." _

_Then, he raised it with a little smile. "Besides, giving power to someone who already has power sounds pretty redundant, don't you think?"_

_All Might put a hand on Melissa's shoulder._

_"Why not give power, to someone who needs it?"_

_Melissa's eyes became as big as dinner plates, and tears formed at their edges as she covered her mouth with her hands._

_"Uncle Might... I'll do it!"_

* * *

"Hmm, you keep saying that you rushed this decision, but from the way you're telling me, you were definitely hesitant about it at first."

"Oh no, don't get me wrong: as soon the idea Uncle Might could give me a Quirk was planted, I wanted to do it, no questions asked," Melissa twiddled her fingers. "But, you know, that day wasn't the best day... and there were so many things happening all at once: I found out Uncle Might's real form, I was offered his Quirk, he told me a bit about his previous big battle, and just... I was having a hard time processing everything."

Gran Torino hummed. "But once you did, you jumped into the wagon."

"Yep, I certainly did," Melissa forced a little laugh. "And I keep thinking back to that moment every time I doubt myself."

"Sounds like you think about it pretty often."

Melissa let out another laugh, but this one was genuine. "How did Uncle Might stand training under a grumpfuss like you?!"

"He grinned and bear it," Gran Torino snickered. "And he did it like a master!" the miniature hero jumped off and began walking to the door. "Now come on, let's go down. The next fight is about to begin."

Melissa nodded, stood up, and followed Gran Torino back downstairs, feeling slightly better about herself.

That, and the fact there was a chance she was gonna see Mina being pummeled to the ground. That also helped.


	23. Karma

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!*

Inko Midoriya walked up to the door and opened it. She found an old friend of hers standing outside. "I'm glad you could come, Detective Tsukauchi."

"It's always a pleasure to work with you, Mrs. Midoriya," the detective replied, bowing down a little. "Still, I do have to warn you I'm busy with a case right now, so if you could make it quick-"

Inko shushed the man, and without missing a single beat, she took him close to the TV and turned it on. The screen displayed a versus screen, showing Shiozaki silently praying while Mina flashed a cocky grin.

"Is that..." Tsukauchi remarked, his eyes widening at the sight.

"The supposed apprentice of Hero Killer Stain? Yes," Inko finished as she pocketed her hands. "Apparently, some genius at U.A. thought it would be a good idea to let that psychopath enter the sports festival, and she's even managed to hurt students already!"

Tsukauchi flinched. "Has she?!"

"She nearly burnt off a girl's arm, and I believe she had something to do with a sudden burn wound in another guy's leg," Inko shrugged. "Anyway, that's besides the point: she's out there, she's still fighting, and something needs to be done about her before she goes too far."

The detective regained his composure and nodded. "I'll get us an arrest warrant immediately, and drive us to the site."

"Please do so, Tsukauchi."

Inko walked into her room, then walked out, now wearing a trenchcoat on top of her normal clothes.

"The longer we take, the more time she has to cause pain and suffering to another hero student."

* * *

Ibara Shiozaki stood in front of the board, showing the remaining fights. Midoriya and Melissa had advanced to the next round, as Present Mic said before, and the very next fight was...

Between her and Mina.

She put a hand over her chest, and closed her eyes as she silently prayed for a miracle to come.

"Hi, Shiozaki."

The greenette flinched and turned around, calming down significantly once she saw the person talking to her was none other than Midoriya, who was accompanied by Hatsume.

"Don't scare me like that, Midoriya!" she chided. "I'm about to face the greatest, most dangerous challenge in my life, and the last thing I need is a heart attack!"

"Told you we should've waited until she stopped praying," Hatsume said, gently hitting Midoriya in the shoulder.

"I was hoping we could reach her before she got into it," Midoriya said, scratching his head with a sheepish smile. "Anyway, Hatsume and I wanted to talk to you before the match."

"If you want to encourage me, I appreciate it, but I don't think any words alone will help me that much in this endeavor," Shiozaki sighed. "The match starts in a couple minutes, too, so-"

Hatsume shushed the vine-haired teen, then grabbed the swan feather on her head and showed it to her. "I want you to take this."

Shiozaki blinked twice. "I... don't think I understand?"

"This feather was created by Midoriya, and it allows him to know when you're in danger, among other things," Hatsume explained with a little smile. "I also think of it as a lucky trinket that helps build confidence, and considering who you're facing, that's definitely something you need."

"Mina has already hurt Kendo and Hatsume, and if what Melissa told us is true, she's even gone so far as to hurt her own classmates," Midoriya added. "If it's possible, I want to help you prepare enough to give Mina a piece of your mind. And, hopefully, knock her out before she gets the chance to play with your head."

Shiozaki looked back at the feather, then at Midoriya and Hatsume's reassuring looks, which made the feather look even more enticing. Even so...

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I can't take it-"

Hatsume lowered her eyelids. "If this has anything to do with honor or your religious beliefs, I'll just be blunt with you: none of them will matter when Mina's digging your face into the ground."

"Hatsume!" Midoriya snapped.

"You can't say that's something she wouldn't do!"

"What I mean is," Shiozaki blurted, getting the duo's attention. "As much as I want to accept your offer of protection, I can't accept it knowing that, if Mina finds out about it, she's going to see it as an excuse to go all out. She seems to have it out for you two, for some reason."

Midoriya and Hatsume exchanged looks, then lowered their heads with angry looks.

"Besides, even if I took the feather, I feel like I'd be outmatched regardless," Shiozaki clasped her hands together. "I'm not someone who enjoys violence: I completely detest it and would never resort to it. But Mina... she's proven to be quite violent. Even if I did my best, she'd have me beaten in how cruel and perverse her actions could get."

"Well, if it helps, she's been forced to wear a support item that renders her acid useless at long range," Hatsume remarked, lifting her head and smiling a bit. "And your Quirk does seem to have a decent middle-to-long range cover, so as long as you don't get too close, she won't be able to hurt you... that badly."

"And you don't need to beat her either, you can just trick her into falling out of the ring," Midoriya added. "Which, now that I think about it, is how many of these fights have concluded, actually. Not that that's a bad thing."

"Except for the announcers," Hatsume quipped. "Imagine them getting all hyped up for an epic battle and then, blam, ring out."

The duo laughed for a bit, with Shiozaki looking confused at them before she joined in for a brief moment. "Again, thanks for the offer, but I'll use my own wits to ring her out. Because I don't think I'll be able to knock her out."

Hatsume put the feather back on her head. "Well, alright then, Shiozaki, if you say so."

"We wish you good luck in your match," Midoriya said as he gave the girl a thumbs up. "Give Ashido a piece of you mind!"

"Oh trust me, I will," Shiozaki lowered her eyelids. "And, before you go, there's something I want to ask you, Midoriya."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"I've noticed you've been surrounded by a notable female presence since the festival started," Shiozaki folded her arms. "I don't want to make any assumptions, especially because you seem like a nice guy, but... are you trying to make a harem, Midoriya?"

Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "A harem? What's that supposed to be?"

"You don't know what a harem is?" Shiozaki smiled with approval. "You really are as pure as I hoped you would be!"

Hatsume poked Midoriya's cheek. "A harem is-"

Shiozaki promptly slapped her with her vine hair. "Shush! Don't corrupt the pure child!"

"Well, anyway, if you're talking about how I'm often surrounded by girls, no, I'm not planning to get anywhere romantically with them," Midoriya added. "Kendo's just a friend, Melissa's also just a friend, Hatsume's my protectorate, and I'd rather die than even humor the idea of having a relationship with Ashido."

"What about Yaoyorozu?"

"_She's_ the one pining for _me_. And I'm not really interested."

"COULD THE CONTESTANTS PLEASE HEAD TO THE ARENA, RIGHT NOW?!"

"That's your cue," Midoriya remarked. "Good luck out there."

Shiozaki smiled and nodded, clasping her hands and praying once again as she headed to the arena and left the duet alone.

"So, do you think she's gonna win?"

"As long as she gives Ashido a piece of her mind, I'll count it as a win."

* * *

"Mina!"

The pink girl stopped, turned around, and saw Kirishima approaching her with Bakugou by his side.

"Well, if it isn't Kirishima, and my dear little brother," Mina remarked with a little smile. "I'm about to have a match, so if you need something, say it quick-"

"Don't go all out!"

Mina narrowed her eyes and glared at Bakugou. "After that statement you gave earlier today, it's quite hypocritical to ask that, Bakugou-"

"I wasn't the one who asked that."

Mina raised an eyebrow and turned to face Kirishima, who was looking at her with a serious expression. "So, you said that, Kirishima?"

The redhead sighed and nodded. "Mina, I know how you can take things to the extreme, and give an even more intense response. Even considering what Bakugou said at the start, and what your limiting gadget can do, I can't just trust you not to go overboard!"

"Hmph, and what makes you think just asking me to hold back will work?"

"Because I'm the only person outside of Stain who you'd ever bother listen to."

Mina's eyes widened for a moment, before she lowered her eyelids and smirked. "Clever, Kirishima. I guess you're not just a sack of brawns after all."

The pink girl turned around and began walking away.

"Oh, and by the way, Kirishima?"

The redhead raised an eyebrow.

"You passed the test: facing off one of the Big Three already made you look like quite a hero. But actually trying to convince me to hold back makes your heroic potential very clear."

With that said, the acidic girl kept walking until she left for the arena, leaving the guys behind. When she did, though, they exchanged concerned looks.

Somehow, one way or another, it felt like Mina was still gonna pull something out of her sleeve...

* * *

"ALRIGHTY EVERYBODY, WE'RE READY TO BEGIN THE NEXT MATCH IN THE TOURNAMENT! AREN'T WE, HADOU?!"

"You bet, Present Mic! And this match is going to be real interesting!" Nejire chirped, clapping repeatedly as she chirped, "Because we got a fight between a pair of students: an impressive one, and a devilish one!"

"CHANGE "DEVILISH" TO "INSUFFERABLE" AND I'LL AGREE WITH YOU, BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

Both Shiozaki and Mina entered the arena, the latter flashing a smug grin that immediately got on Shiozaki's nerves. It was quite amazing that even after so long since their first interaction, Mina still acted like the same infuriating little shit.

"ON THIS CORNER! CAN HER FAITH PROVE STRONG ENOUGH AGAINST THE DEVIL SHE'S ABOUT TO FACE?! IT'S CLASS 1-B'S IBARA SHIOZAKI!"

"Go, Shiozaki!" Midoriya exclaimed, raising his fist.

"Show that jerk what Class 1-B can do!" Monoma shouted, pounding his knuckles. "Avenge Kendo!"

"Um, I'm still alive, you know?" the redhead growled in exasperation.

"T-That's not what I meant-"

"SHIOZAKIII!"

The teenagers turned around to see Melissa not only standing up, but flailing her arms up and down while shouting at the very top of her lungs. Her classmates looked rather surprised by this, but she paid no attention to them.

"BREAK BEYOND YOUR MORAL SELF-RESTRICTION! GIVE ASHIDO THE BIGGEST BEATING OF HER LIFE! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE MERCY AFTER EVERYTHING SHE'S DONE!"

"M-Melissa, calm down, please!" Shimura weakly pleaded, clasping his hands. "You're giving us unwanted attention..."

Seeing the guy was right, the blonde inheritor huffed and sat back down, adjusting her glasses as she folded her arms.

"VERSUS! I WANNA MAKE A JOKE ABOUT HER FIGHTING SHIOZAKI'S FAITH, BUT I REALLY DON'T WANNA GIVE HER ANY IDEAS! IT'S CLASS 1-A'S MINA ASHIDO!"

The pink girl smirked as not only Shiozaki's glare fell upon her, but also glares from the entirety of both Class 1-A and 1-B, with a glare from Hatsume thrown in.

"Haha! I can sense everyone's disapproval from here!" Mina chirped as she stretched. "I know I should feel a little ashamed because of all the terrible things I did, but I'm sorry, the sheer hypocrisy being shown all around me is just too much!"

Shiozaki raised an eyebrow.

"Hypocrisy?" You're probably wondering," the pink girl continued. "Well, think about it: in this world, heroes react, and villains do. Theoretically, a hero does nothing but wait until a villain shows up, and they then get up their lazy butts to stop them. So I, using the same "rational falsehood" that Eraserhead uses all the time, decided to help everyone gain a more proactive streak, and everyone disapproves of it."

Mina flashed a sadistic grin. "Isn't the hypocrisy in that statement just delicious?"

"START!"

Shiozaki wasted no time and she planted her hair on the ground. The hair spread across the ground in front of her until it burst from underneath Mina, the pink girl jumping up just as the hair contorted in the form of a cage.

"I guess you're just as blind as everyone else," Mina spoke with disappointment as she generated some acid from her palm. "Well then, have at you!"

Mina swung her arm and shot the acid... which dissipated into the air mere seconds after it left her palm, not even reaching anywhere near Shiozaki.

"Oh right, this little thing on my neck forces me to stay close range! I totally forgot, my bad!"

_She didn't forget anything!_ Hatsume thought._ She's just screwing around!_

Mina fell on top of the cage, and jumped off before she ran towards Shiozaki. The vine-haired girl immediately reacted by morphing the cage into several vines that tried to strike Mina as she ran. However, no matter how fast they struck, the pink girl simply dodged each and every strike.

She even managed to grab one of the vines to inspect it closer.

"Blunt ends? Come on, Shiozaki, this just won't cut it!"

Mina created some acid from her palm and cut the vine in half with it, doing the same with the other vines before she continued her run.

Shiozaki detached her hair from the ground just as Mina got close, with some steaming acid coming out of her palms. Shiozaki took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and closed her eyes as Mina smirked and lunged straight for her.

Shiozaki simply ducked, waited until Mina was right on top of her, then unleashed an uppercut with all her strength, right on her stomach.

The resulting force of the attack not only sent Mina rolling off to the side, but it also stunned her long enough for Shiozaki to connect her hair to the remaining vines, and seemingly absorb it.

"I'M NOT GONNA LIE, THAT WAS SATISFYING TO SEE!"

"That looked like it hurt!"

"IT SURE DID! IBARA SHIOZAKI DODGED THE ATTACK AT THE LAST MOMENT AND THEN COUNTERED WITH A STRONG UPPERCUT! I ALMOST WISH THIS WOULD BE THE END OF IT, BUT THIS IS A TOURNAMENT ARC! IT'S NEVER THAT SIMPLE!"

Nejire raised an eyebrow. "Tournament arc? What are you talking about?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

Mina slowly stood up, clutching her chest as she caught her breath. After doing this a couple times, she chuckled, and looked at Shiozaki with amusement.

"So, you're not just going to stay on the defensive, huh? Good, you're starting to show promise!"

Shiozaki narrowed her eyes. "The last thing I want from you is any sort of approval!"

"And the last thing _I_ want is a vine up my ass again," Mina smirked as she prepared to run again. "But I feel I'm gonna get that anyway!"

Blushing at the reminder, Shiozaki quickly shook it off and shot another barrage of vines at Mina, who flashed a grin before she sidestepped the incoming vines, sliding all over the place until she decided to stop, and get hit by one of the vines.

Her cheek was grazed, but it was otherwise unharmed.

"Still going keeping the blunt ends, even after proving you're willing to attack?" Mina narrowed her eyes and kept running. "Just 'cause you don't want my approval, doesn't mean you should want my disappointment!"

Once close enough, Mina grabbed Shiozaki's shoulders and began pushing, with the vine-haired girl grabbing the acidic girl's shoulder and pushing back, keeping them at a standstill.

"IT LOOKS LIKE AFTER SEVERAL SHOTS FROM SHIOZAKI, WHO HASN'T MOVED AN INCH, THE FIGHT HAS DEVOLVED INTO A PUSHING STANDSTILL!"

"Does this mean one of them's going to push the other one out?"

"ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT, FOLKS! KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED!"

Mina gritted her teeth, constantly gaining the upper hand against Shiozaki, only to go back to the standstill. "You have enough upper body strength to keep me at bay, and you still waste your time using your blunt ends!"

"I'm not going to be an action hero!" Shiozaki snapped back. "I'm going to be a rescue hero! Someone who rescues civillians and deals with disaster situations!"

"That's assuming you don't die first!"

Mina stepped on Shiozaki's foot, and the girl groaned as she slammed her hair back on the ground, then released it under Mina's leg, quickly wrapping it in place with her vines as she turned up

"The Hero Business that you and all those jerks look up to is not the same as it used to be! What was once an occupation to keep up morale and to give hope to the common folk, has devolved into nothimg more than a popularity contest between fakers who are more interested in their own popularity than the safety of people!"

The pro-heroes at the stands frowned, disapproving, yet being unable to deny Mina's claims. Even some of the teachers frowned at this, in particular All Might.

"E-Even if that's the case..."

Everyone lifted their heads, and listened as Shiozaki gritted her teeth and proclaimed:

"Not all heroes care about popularity! Some care about the people they're supposed to save, which is more than can be said about someone like you!"

Shiozaki headbutted Mina hard enough to crack her nose, but the pink girl quickly recovered and leaned closer to the vine-haired girl, putting her hands on her back.

"You're getting angry, aren't you? I knew it," Mina snickered, narrowing her eyes. "Behind your facade as a righteous, holy crusader, you're just another irritable little faker, like everyone else in this damn stadium!"

Mina placed her fingertips on Shiozaki's back and began releasing steaming acid. "How do you expect to be a honest heroine if you're not honest with yourself!?"

Shiozaki gritted her teeth and kneed Mina, causing the acidic girl to release her and clutch her stomach before she was kicked right in the teeth. Even with this, however, Mina kept her grip on Shiozaki's shoulders.

"Come on, be honest, Shiozaki! You're enjoying this, aren't you!?" Mina scoffed. "You could've grabbed me with your vines and flung me over the arena, and that would be the end of it!"

"Q-Quiet!"

"But instead, you're keeping me at bay, punching and kicking me to slowly wear me down, until I'm weak enough so that you can give me a beating I'll never forget!"

"I said quiet!"

"And you know, now that I think about it..."

Mina leaned closer to Shiozaki's ear and whispered:

"Doesn't that make us similar?"

Shiozaki's eyes widened as her pupils flashed red for a split second. And in another split second, one of her vines detached from the ground, formed a sharp end, and stabbed Mina right in her right eye, causing her to reel back and scream in back as blood shot from the socket, right on Shiozaki's face.

The audience gasped, and among them, Melissa put a hand on her mouth, Midoriya stood agape, Hatsume covered Mineta's eyes just like Shinsou did with Eri, and the pro-heroes and teachers stood utterly horrified at what just happened.

"HOLY SHIT! I EXPECTED TO SEE SOME BLOOD TODAY, BUT NOT LIKE THAT!"

"Present Mic, I'm scared! Somebody needs to stop it!"

"I AGREE! MIDNIGHT, PUT AN END TO THIS!"

The referee flinched and began searching through her gadgets as Mina recovered from the

"What the hell are you-!?"

However, once made the mistake to look at Shiozaki's bloodied face, she was met with a furious glare, eyes diluted to the point they seemed bloodshot, and emanating an aura that she was far too familiar with.

For the glare was nigh identical to the glare she got from Midoriya earlier.

And it was in that moment that Mina felt an emotion she hadn't felt since the start of the tournament.

Genuine fear.

"I con-!"

Before Mina could finish her statement, vines wrapped around her mouth and covered it, with some extra layers added just in case she tried to melt them away. She whimpered and cried, trying to break free as Shiozaki grabbed her hand and hissed:

"Oh no you're not! You got all the way over here by trampling others and being an utter dick! I'm not gonna give you the pleasure to just give up and get away with everything like the coward you are!"

Shiozaki tightened her grip on Mina's arm and began pulling, while the vines keeping Mina's leg in place gained sharp ends and began piercing it.

"I'm gonna make sure you feel the same pain you gave everyone, _with extra interest!_"

Midnight found a small bomb-like object, and removed the pin. "Alright, that's enough!"

The pro-heroine threw the gadget, and as soon as it hit the girls, it blew up and released a purple smoke cloud. However, a couple seconds after the fact, an ear-piercing scream was heard as something flew out of the cloud, high into the sky.

The wind dissipated the smoke covering it... and in their utter horror, everyone saw the object was an arm.

A freshly-ripped, pink arm.

Shortly after that, the smoke cloud covering the girls dissipated, revealing the duo had fallen asleep, and neither looked good.

Blood coated Shiozaki's hands and arms, and her hair looked like it was brutally ripped off.

But that paled in comparison to Mina. The acidic girl has marks around her mouth, a bloody stump where her arm used to be, a bleeding eye socket, and an exposed leg with several holes formed around it.

And, with both girls unconscious, Midnight only had one thing to say:

"It's a tie!"

* * *

Detective Tsukauchi's vehicle parked right outside the stadium of the sports festival, and both him and Inko stepped outside and began walking towards the stadium, where the jumbotron hanging up showed the results of the latest fight.

That is to say, it showed the mess left after Shiozaki and Mina's scuffle.

"Dang, looks like we arrived too late," the detective remarked.

"No," Inko lowered her eyelids. "We arrived just in time."


	24. Deal With the Devil

Shinsou and Eri sat on a bench in one of the hallways, the latter trying to process the information on what had happened on the previous fight. Shinsou gave her a quick rundown of what went down, while also making sure to keep out any of the more disturbing details.

"Good lord, and that happened on live television?" Eri asked, earning a nod from the insomniac. "I'm glad you covered my eyes, but, now I'm really worried."

Shinsou shrugged. "If it makes you feel any better, the one who got the bad end of the stick kinda deserved it."

"How can you say that?!" Eri snapped, glaring at Shinsou. "Ashido lost an eye, an arm, and got her leg punctured!"

"Yeah," Shinsou returned the glare. "And Ashido _also_ gave the hero killer Stain the idea to attack a support student, allowed him to enter the campus and put everyone in danger, injured a member of the hero course, almost destroyed said member's arm on her previous match, and is said to have injured one of her own classmates prior, as well."

Eri's anger was slowly replaced by sheer, shocked amazement at what Shinsou had described. "But, if she did all of that, why was she even allowed to compete in the festival? Getting the hero killer on U.A. should've been enough to ban her."

Shinsou took a deep breath and lowered his head. "It was a tough decision..."

* * *

_"When I snap my fingers, you won't lie during this entire interrogation."_

_Shinsou snapped his fingers once, and Mina broke out of her entranced state to find herself in an enclosed room, with one of those one-way mirrors._

_Right in front of her were Eraserhead, homeroom teacher of Class 1-A, Vlad King, same but for Class 1-B, and Present Mic._

_And of course, right beside her was Shinsou, who promptly asked, "Were you the one who told Stain to go cripple a potential support course student?"_

_"What kind of question is that?!" Mina snapped, right before her eyes went blank and she spoke with a robotic tone, "I gave him the idea that he could try attacking a support gadget maker, since those tend to help the fakers he seeks to eradicate. I never thought he'd go after a teenager."_

_"Did you feel any joy from these news?" Vlad King asked sternly, as Present Mic pressed a button on an audio recorder._

_"Of all the feelings that the news brought, shock and disbelief overpowered me for a long while," Mina's blank expression slowly transformed into a smile. "But once I processed the information, and had Stain let me know that it was better this way, joy did come back, though it was mixed with a great deal of regret."_

_"Did you have any connection with any of his other crimes before his incarceration?" Eraserhead inquired._

_"Not really, I stayed behind on his house and acted like a housewife: cleaning the apartment, making food, that stuff. However, besides being taught how to throw knives and general knowledge on close combat, I wasn't involved with him."_

_"Wait, you lived with Stain?"_

_"Yes, I did. As I said before, I took care of the house while he took care of faker hunting."_

_"One final question, Ashido: Why did you decide to live with Stain?" Vlad King lowered his eyelids. "Surely, you had to have noticed the guy would be bad news."_

_"I was desperate. I was alone on the streets... starving... and scared. I would've decided to go live with anyone who would've given me the option."_

_Present Mic pushed a button on the recorder, ending the recording, and Shinsou snapped his fingers as he said "turn back to normal", with Mina doing just that moments later._

_"W-Wait," the pink girl tilted her head. "What just happened?"_

_"We got what we needed," Eraserhead calmly answered as Present Mic showed the recorder. "A confession from you that, while not being enough to send you in jail, will pretty much get you expelled from U.A., and at the very least some community service for bringing the hero killer on campus."_

_"And that's if they decide to go easy on you!" Present Mic added._

_"But you can't do that! If you do that..." Mina's eyes slowly widened in realization. "You'll lose the chance to get information on them..."_

_Eraserhead raised an eyebrow, and seeing this as her cue to explain herself, she reached for her back and took out a some documents containing papers, baffling Shinsou as she explained:_

_"Stain told me about certain groups of villainous organizations, mostly to let me know who could potentially be one of their agents. And I'm willing to share this information with you, especially since I can't really lie anyway."_

_Eraserhead narrowed his eyes. "What's the catch?"_

_"Oh, nothing major, it's just something I've always wanted to do," Mina twiddled her fingers. "You see, ever since I was little brat, I always watched a peculiar event on the TV in order to calm myself down. And participating in it was one of the reasons I joined U.A. Simply put..."_

_Mina turned back to the teachers and smirked:_

_"Let me participate in the sports festival."_

_"Absolutely not!" Present Mic snapped. "Keeping her around is one thing, but letting her participate in the most popular event of Japan is another!"_

_Mina snatched the documents back. "Don't let me participate in the sports festival, and I'm not giving you any dirt on these organizations."_

_"How do we even know those documents have any information at all?" Present Mic narrowed his eyes. "You could be tricking us into letting you get close to hero students to cripple!"_

_"Ugh, you give the hero killer the idea to do that to a support student and it's the first thing people expect you to do," Mina rolled her eyes and took out a paper from the document. "Here, see for yourself."_

_Eraserhead grabbed the paper and took a closer look at it. The paper consisted of information on what looked like a woman, wearing a black bird mask. Age, occupation, and crimes were all registered, as well as some potential hints on who her children could be._

_"This is information on the head of the Shie Hassaikai, isn't it?" Eraserhead asked, earning a nod from Mina. "How did Stain find out about them, let alone get this information?"_

_"Simply put, he goes out often, and people who use villainous actions to make the world a better place as just as fake heroes in his eyes," Mina explained. "Now, if you want the rest of the information, let me continue studying at U.A., and participate in the sports festival."_

_"How do we know we can trust you?!"_

_Raging bells were heard across the room as the teachers turned to see Shinsou shooting a glare at Mina, who slowly turned to face him and waited until the bells died down to smugly reply:_

_"Did you really think that would work on me again?"_

_Shinsou groaned. "You little-!"_

_"Alright, Ashido, we got a deal."_

_Shinsou and Mina turned to face Eraserhead, who narrowed his eyes as he added, "But on one condition: until the sports festival happens, you won't take classes with Class 1-A. You will stay in your cell, and we will teach you the subjects you would've studied otherwise."_

_"Wait, are you for real?!" Present Mic exclaimed._

_"There's no way we're letting you anywhere near the hero course students after what you did," Vlad King sternly added._

_"Are you listening to me?!"_

_"Furthermore, once the sports festival is over, you're out," Eraserhead added. "No begging, no pleading, you're out of U.A. and what happens next will be up to you."_

_"Come on, guys, you can't be serious! This is a terrible idea!"_

_"I have to agree with Present Mic," Shinsou said, clenching his fists. "Letting a psychopath like her stay here, even if it's temporary-"_

_"Is but a small price to pay for the chance of knocking down some villainous organizations," Mina smirked. "Right?"_

_Shinsou gritted his teeth and growled, but his anger was quickly replaced with disbelief as he saw Eraserhead shake hands with Mina, the boy exchanging horrified looks with Present Mic before he turned back to see Mina's disgusting grin._

* * *

"It took me a while to understand Eraserhead only did it because it was the best option, but still, my view on him took a hit that day."

"So, in short, they allowed her to participate just to get some information on some villain groups?" Eri rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "Well, now they see how that went down! I bet the documents they got were mostly bogus, too."

"No, they were completely accurate."

Eri flinched and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You heard me: the information on the documents turned out to be completely true; information on the important members, their headquarters, their latest operation," Shinsou lifted his head and sighed. "Everything was true."

"But, why would she do that?" Eri scratched her head. "Surely, she could've just had one genuine document, have the rest be fake, and the results would've been the same."

"Ashido's a crazy bitch, but she's a crazy bitch who likes to put herself on a pedestal; I bet she figured that by giving the heroes genuine dirt on the villains, she'd make herself look better in comparison," Shinsou smiled. "Little did she know that all she managed to do in the end was help U.A. be better prepared for when they deal with these groups."

Eri scratched her chin. "That's interesting I guess, but what's going to happen now?"

"If my intuition's right, the police will take care of Mina. No idea what'll happen to the vine girl, though," Shinsou stood up. "Anyway, we've wasted enough time. How about we go back to the stands so you can cheer on your boyfriend?"

Eri blushed and stood up too. "Mineta's not my boyfriend!"

Shinsou pocketed his hands and snickered, "Not yet anyway."

The insomniac guy lead the way, snickering to himself as Eri desperately tried to convince him that she and Mineta didn't have a romantic relationship.

.

.

.

"Guess you got more than you bargained for, Problem Child."


	25. Tinkering Matchup

At the infirmary, Recovery Girl watched over the unconscious bodies of Shiozaki and Mina when somebody knocked on the door three times.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Midoriya and Hatsume entered, followed by Kirishima, Kaminari, and Bakugou. "Sorry for barging in."

"You knocked the door and I gave you permission to enter, I don't think that counts as barging in," the miniature nurse responded. "Also, if you came here to talk with the patients, I'm afraid you'll have to come back later, they're still unconscious."

"We're just here to see if they're okay," Bakugou remarked. "Trust us, if I was here to give Pinky a piece of my mind, I'd need to be restrained by Deku, his girlfriend, and Shit Hair over here. Maybe Dumbbolt too."

Kaminari shot a look at Bakugou before he took a step forward. "Is Shiozaki going to be okay?"

Recovery Girl hummed. "Well, yes and no."

"What do you mean, yes and no?" Midoriya asked.

"My Quirk only helps speed up the natural, _physical_ healing process of the body. It doesn't affect any mental scars," Recovery Girl frowned and lowered her head. "So treating their wounds will be one thing, but there's no helping their mental states."

"They could go to therapy, just like what I did," Hatsume remarked.

"Unlikely: Pinky's part of my family, so she's probably too prideful to do something like that," Bakugou argued, ignoring the looks he got from his students. "As for Tarzan, she doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd be willing to share what happened with a stranger."

Then, the explosive blonde turned to Midoriya. "If she's going to even humor the idea of therapy, it'll have to be with someone she knows, and trusts."

Everyone else turned to Midoriya, who scanned his surroundings before he realized the implication.

"W-Wait, me?! Shiozaki and I aren't that close!"

"You're friends, and that's good enough," Bakugou stated sternly. "If you can find someone else to do it, fantastic, but just remember that Tarzan's not gonna take the therapy unless it's with someone she trusts. And also..."

Bakugou turned to Mina, narrowed his eyes, and took a deep breath before he bowed to Midoriya.

"I apologize for what Mina did to your classmates."

Everyone in the room gasped and looked dumbfounded at the explosive blonde boy as he lifted his head, pocketed his hands, and stomped out of the infirmary.

"Did... did Bakugou just apologize?" Kaminari asked in disbelief. "And not even for something he did?!"

"Well, I can safely say that Mina wouldn't apologize for what she did," Kirishima remarked as he walked up to the unconscious, acidic girl. "She kinda... never really apologized for anything back in middle school."

"Um, well, I have to go get ready for my match with Mineta," Hatsume remarked, placing a hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "Izuku, could you come with me?"

"Dude, did you just call him by his first name?" Kaminari asked.

Hatsume flinched, and without wasting any time, she grabbed Midoriya's hand, and the two bolted out of the room.

"Dang it, Midoriya's barely halfway through his semester, and he's already on first name basis with a girl," Kaminari whined.

"Actually, those two have been hanging around for nearly a year, I think," Kirishima remarked as he went to Mina's side. "They kinda remind me of Mina and I."

"But I've never heard her call you by your first name."

Kirishima frowned. "Yeah, truth be told, she's... never done that."

"You have my condolences dude," Kaminari scratched the back of his head. "Sorry that my date beat her up so badly."

Shiozaki's vines moved and slapped Kaminari. "Ouch! I thought she was unconscious!"

And as Kirishima laughed, another duo entered the infirmary: this being the duet of Detective Tsukauchi and Inko, the latter who smiled as soon as she saw Recovery Girl, who thought:

_About time they came for her._

* * *

"I can't believe I made such a simple screw up!" Hatsume cried, pulling her hair. "Now they're going to blabber about it to their classmates!"

"Calm down, Hatsume, Kaminari and Kirishima seem like nice guys, they wouldn't blurt out something like that whenever they wanted," Midoriya replied, putting a hand on Hatsume's shoulder. "Plus, even if they tried, Melissa would put a stop them in an instant."

Hatsume stopped, and Midoriya did the same as she grabbed his hand, and gently removed it, her concerned expression finally getting Midoriya's attention.

"Izu... Midoriya... have you noticed something about the way we refer to each other?" Hatsume frowned. "Something that seems a little... uneven?"

Midoriya paused and tilted his head. "What do you mean-?"

"I've called you with both your first _and_ last name, but you only ever call me by my last name!" Hatsume snapped, startling the boy. "And the fact that I sometimes call you by your first name, but you haven't done the same for me... I don't know why, but it really bothers me!"

"I-I don't mean to make you upset, Hatsume!" Midoriya blurted, causing the girl to pout. "I-It's just, you know, using someone's first name should be reserved for someone you think's special-"

"_YOU'RE_ DEAR TO ME!"

Hatsume's scream echoed across the hallways for a few seconds before she continued with her rant:

"You saved me from Stain! You helped me get used to the pink-hued vision I was stuck with until recently! And most importantly, you've given me the chance to make so many incredible babies!"

Midoriya blushed, and Hatsume rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Izuku, you know I'm talking about my gadgets-and fuck, I did it again!"

Hatsume grabbed her hair and pulled hard as she finished, "After all of that, and after I did as you asked and began calling you by your first name, it just feels so frustrating you haven't done the same! Sometimes I even wonder if_ I mean anything to you at all!_"

With that said, Hatsume released her hair and sulked. She kept facing the ground for a while as Midoriya calmed down and frowned.

"I'm sorry."

Midoriya blinked twice. "Huh?"

"I just... that little fact had been bothering me for a long time, and I felt that if I didn't vent out now, I'd blow up during the finals or something," Hatsume twiddled her fingers. "A-And you're the only one I can really talk to about this, partially because you're part of the problem but that's besides the point."

"I'm at fault too," Midoriya sighed. "You're dear to me, too, Hatsume, you really are. You've been a great friend, training partner, and even just talking to you from time to time helped me deal with some of my insecurity when talking to girls!"

Hatsume smirked. "You're still pretty bad at it."

"But I was even worse before I met you," Midoriya smiled and lowered his eyelids. "And sure, hanging around with the girls in my classroom helped, but you were the one who helped me in the first place."

Then the boy raised one of his legs, and pointed at his boots. "And of course, I can't forget this little baby you made for me."

Hatsume gasped. "You called it "baby!"

"O-Oh, right, that's your thing, isn't it? S-Sorry, I'll drop it-"

"Nonono, it's fine, it's totally fine! Now, what were you saying?"

"Oh right, thanks to these boots you made for me, I've been able to use my Quirk without having to get angry every five minutes: if it wasn't for you, I'd have to go through the second half of the festival, practically Quirkless! Not that there's anything wrong with that, but-"

"I get the idea, Midoriya." Hatsume giggled. "I still would like it if you called me by my first name once in a while." then she turned around and folded her arms behind her back. "I mean seriously, at this rate, I'm gonna have to _force_ you to do it!"

Midoriya shook his head and snickered. "Don't you have a match to get to?"

"COULD THE NEXT FIGHTERS HEAD INTO THE ARENA, PLEASE?!"

"Dang, saved by Present Mic's irritating voice!" Hatsume chuckled. "That's the end of this conversation, Midoriya! But we will continue another day!"

"Hatsume."

The girl turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"Good luck out there."

The gadgeteer formed a smile and nodded.

"Thanks, Midoriya."

* * *

"ON THIS CORNER! HIS WITS AND SMARTS PROVES THAT SIZE DOESN'T MATTER! IT'S THE SUPPORT COURSE'S MINORU MINETA, EVERYONE!"

"Whoo! Go, Mineta!" Eri shouted.

"I still think you should've dressed as a cheerleader and gone down there," Shinsou teased, jabbing the girl's shoulder. "Let him get a good look at what you're willing to do for him and such."

Eri slapped Shinsou, who snickered in response.

"AND ON THIS CORNER, ALSO FROM THE SUPPORT COURSE! THE QUEEN OF GADGETS HAS DESCENDED DOWN FROM HER THRONE TO PUT A PEASANT ON HIS PLACE! IT'S MEI HATSUME!"

As the audience cheered, Hatsume rolled her eyes and muttered, "At least make Mineta a noble or something."

"Go, Hatsume!" Midoriya shouted from his stand. "Show everyone why you're the Queen of Gadgets!"

"Dude, that's a nickname Present Mic came up with on the spot," Monoma pointed out.

"Don't be a buzzkill, Monoma," Kendo chided.

Meanwhile, over on Class 1-A's stands, Melissa stood up and raised her fist. "Show everyone the might of an inventor, Hatsume!"

"Before we begin the round, a couple new rules will be established!" Midnight exclaimed. "First of all, any attack with the intent to hurt or kill is prohibited! Performing any such attack will result in the disqualification of the perpetrator!"

Everyone sighed in relief at the rule.

"Secondly, taking into account the state of both Shiozaki and Ahisod, the tie from the last match has been declared a double knock out! Therefore, this will be the lost one-on-one match of the tournament!"

"Wait, what?!" Mineta exclaimed. "This is the last one-on-one fight?!"

Hatsume's eyes widened as she processed this information. _If this is the last one-on-one brawl, then that means the next fight-_

"START!"

Hatsume flinched and gritted her teeth as she reached for her back and took out... a small microphone, with Mineta doing the same moments later.

"Hey, wait a minute! They had gadgets hidden with them?!" Nejire asked. "How many more do they have? Is that even allowed?"

"They're from the support course, it's their thing!" Midnight argued with a laugh. "I might as well allow it!"

"BESIDES, THAT'LL MAKE THINGS MUCH MORE INTERESTING!"

Hatsume smiled, and promptly raised her arms as she spoke:

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's quite a pleasure to meet all of you today!"

"We got quite a showcase of gadgets coming up for all the world to see!" Mineta continued. "So if you could be nice enough to sit still and look agaped at our creations, we'd greatly appreciate it!"

Midoriya and Melissa laughed at the comment, while everybody else just stood dumbfounded at what was happening. Even Present Mic and Midnight were speechless as Hatsume spoke:

"Now, to begin this little showcase..."

Hatsume reached for her back once more, and took out two small rocket-like gadgets.

"I present you, the Hatsu-Boosters!"

Hatsume put the little gadgets on the side of her shoes, and pressed them, causing her to zoom towards Mineta as she continued:

"With these magnificant babies, you will quickly clear the distance between yourself and your enemies before they even notice!"

Mineta flashed a smile as Hatsume reached for her back with her whole arm.

"And right after that comes, the Hatsu-Fist!"

Hatsume took out her arm, now enveloped in an arm brace almost identical to the arm brace Melissa invented, only silver. She then raised the arm brace and swung it down just as Mineta jumped away, the brace connecting and shattering the ground.

"Based on Strength-enhancing Quirks, the Hatsu-Fist allows someone to throw a punch that's twice as strong as the average one! It's strong enough to even crack cement! All without injuring the user's own hand!"

_Wait a minute, an arm brace that can unleash strong force without hurting the user's hand? Isn't that the same thing I built for myself?_ Melissa scratched her chin. _But I never showed the thing to Hatsume, did I? No, I didn't... right?_

"At least you keep your thoughts to yourself."

Melissa flinched and turned around, seeing Bakugou staring at the fight with a stern expression. "If you and Deku swapped places, he'd be muttering up a storm."

"Oh, well," Melissa sheepishly smiled. "I guess I wanna keep the muttering for gadgets?"

Bakugou eyed the blonde inventor before he slightly nodded. "It's an improvement. Not a big one, but an improvement nonetheless."

"Is she seriously going to do a sales pitch for her gadgets now?" Monoma asked incredulously.

"Well, she did tell me she was gonna do it eventually," Midoriya chuckled, scratching his chin. "And if there's a good time to do it, why not with another member of the support course?"

"Still, this feels like such a shift from the last match," Kendo spoke. "Not that that's a bad thing, but still."

Midoriya nodded at the statement, and the instant he remembered the previous fight with Shiozaki and Mina, an unnerving chill went down his spine. Even if he was one of the people who wanted to see Mina get her comeuppance, he still quaked in his boots at the thought that Shiozaki of all people would deliver such a brutal punishment.

But that was something he could think about later. For now, there was a sales-pitch-disguised-as-a-fight to watch.

"Those are some nice inventions you got there, but I too have some tricks up my sleeve!" Mineta proclaimed as he crouched down. "Presenting..."

The boy pushed a purple button on the side of his boot, and its purple underside expanded, revealing a pair of balls underneath.

"The Mine-Bouncers!"

Using the balls' bouncing properties, the boy took a huge leap into the sky, bouncing up and down all over the arena as he explained:

"With just a push of a button, these customized boots will allow their user to bounce all over the place, avoiding their enemies' attacks while confusing them all the same!"

Hatsume quickly ran up to where Mineta was falling to and prepared to throw another punch.

"And if you're about to be blindsided by an enemy attack, no problem!"

Mineta pushed a second, different purple button, and the balls detached, sending Mineta up again while sending the underside straight into Hatsume's face.

"With a simple push of the secondary button, the underside will send you propelling away, while the underside acts as a projectile to strike your enemy's with!"

Hatsume giggled like crazy as the underside fell and hit the ground with a loud *THUD* "I totally didn't see that coming!" then, she smirked. "However..."

Activating the Hatsu-Boosters once more, Hatsume closed the distance between her and Mineta and reeled back the Hatsu-Fist.

"You're not getting away that easily!"

Mineta smiled, reached for his back, and took out a purple circular shield-like object he mounted on his shoulder, just in time to block the attack.

"Nice try, Hatsume, but you've fallen right into my trap!" Mineta proudly answered. "You've hit my Mine-Shieldron instead!"

Hatsume raised an eyebrow. "Shieldron?"

"A mix between a shield and a pauldron!" Mineta explained. "By equipping the Mine-Shieldron on one's shoulder, not only do they get to block an attack, but..."

The gadget began glowing purple, and Mineta smirked as he pushed a purple button.

"With the push of a button, it can send the force back!"

An intense gust of wind sent Hatsume flying back, though she luckily managed to stop short from landing over the boundary. Once that was over, Hatsume flashed a cocky smile before she and Mineta ran towards each other, unleashing gadget after gadget at each other.

"Hatsu-Web!"

"Mine-Cutter!"

"Hatsu-Bomb!"

"Mine-Wind!"

"Hatsu-Piercer!"

"Mine-Wall!"

_They're not taking this seriously at all._ Melissa and Midoriya thought in unison, both trying to hold back their laughter.

"Hey, Mineta! When are you going to take it out?!" Hatsume asked as she was sent back once more. "The invention you used fighting the Hardening guy!"

Mineta smirked. "I dismantled it!"

Hatsume's eyes widened. "You what?!"

"I knew that after showing my invention, you'd get an interest in making something to counter it, so I dismantled it during the time between that fight and this one!" Mineta folded his arms. "I used the parts that remained to create the Mine-Boots!"

"Dismantling your own invention and recreating it into something entirely new!" Hatsume recapped in shock, before she got the widest, proudest smile she'd ever put on. "Amazing, Mineta! You definitely earned your place in the support course!"

"I'm flattered you think so," Mineta reached for his hair and began pulling his balls out. "Now let me make you more proud by beating you!"

The purple dwarf shot some balls to the ground, and began jumping from ball to ball until he was close enough to push Hatsume out of the boundary...

At least that was the plan, but he instead wound up falling into... something. All he knew is that it was pitch black inside, with light only coming from a small circular exit on the... ceiling?

"Presenting, the Hatsu-Cannon!"

Wait, what?!

"Don't let its bulky design fool you, this baby is lightweight enough to be mounted on one's shoulder!"

Mineta crawled up the darkness until his head popped out of what he assumed was Hatsume's gadget. He looked around as Hatsume continued:

"And not only that, it can shoot anything from small projectiles, to even a small human! And all with the push of a button!"

Mineta couldn't even verbalize his shock before he was shot out like a human bullet. As he flew off into the beyond the boundary, and into his inevitable loss, he noticed something about Hatsume:

She smiled proudly at the boy, and was giving him a thumbs up with a wide, sincere smile.

Mineta smiled back, and returned the thumbs up as he hit the ground, and rolled off until he hit a wall.

"Mineta's out of bounds! Hatsume goes to the next round!"

The audience roared with cheers as Hatsume jumped off the arena and ran up to the purple dwarf, who got up and dusted himself.

"Are you okay?" Hatsume asked, dropping the shoulder cannon to the ground. "Sorry that I took away your moment with the Hatsu-Cannon."

"Are you kidding me?! Being shot out of that thing was amazing!" Mineta shrugged. "Although, I would suggest adding a secondary mode in order to keep the villains trapped. I mean, if I could crawl out, anybody could."

"Interesting proposal," Hatsume scratched her chin. "How about we give it some upgrades when we have the time?"

Mineta flashed a thumbs up once again. "I'd feel honored."

"AND THAT CONCLUDES THE QUARTER FINALS, EVERYONE!" Present Mic interjected. "NOW, NORMALLY WE'D HAVE THE SEMI FINALS NEXT AND THEN THE FINALS!"

"But as Midnight pointed out, Shiozaki and Ashido have been both knocked out, leaving an uneven number of participants remaining!" Nejire added. "And you know what this means! You do right? I'm not the only one who doesn't know?"

"THIS MEANS, FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE YEARS OF ALL MIGHT, THE SPORTS FESTIVAL WILL END WITH A BATTLE ROYALE!"

The audience shot up in cheer once more, while Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, and Hatsume all reacted to the announcement with shock... and excitment.

In Hatsume's case, though, there was also a mix of worry...


	26. The Final Round

1.) Izuku Midoriya Vs. Mei Hatsume Vs. Momo Yaoyorozu

The more she looked at the match in the board, the harder it was for Hatsume to believe it was real. She expected a couple of possibilities for the final battle: Midoriya would fight Mina, or maybe he would fight Hatsume, or maybe Midoriya wouldn't even be part of the final fight, and that the final fight would be between her and Yaoyorozu or something.

She didn't expect a three-person battle royale!

And sue, she did have to deal with The Big Three-and Melissa-for the second event to even get to the tournament, but in that case she only had to deal with _one_ of the Big Three, and she didn't even fought him!

Now, she had no choice: she had to fight not only Midoriya, the guy who's been a crutch for her for months, but Yaoyorozu, who had the clearly unfair advantage of having both a mutation that let her fly and a Quirk.

Sure, she couldn't use them both at the same time, but there was a high chance she would manage to do just that during this fight. And that would most certainly be the end of her.

Wait, Mina told her about how Yaoyorozu worked, right? Yeah, she said how she had hollow bones and had a lean frame, but with places with greater mass or something that made her Quirk somewhat useful.

And then, a sudden memory resurfaced:

_But I wonder... would you be able to hurt him?_

Hatsume's eyes widened. Was this possibility what Mina was talking about before? Sure, there was no way she would know for sure there would be a three-way fight between them, but-

"Yo, Hatsume!"

The pink-haired gadgeteer turned around, and was met with Midoriya's little smile. It wasn't much, but it helped her calm down slightly.

"Don't scare me like that, Midoriya, please."

"Sorry, but I wanted to see you before the fight started," Midoriya's smile faltered. "It's crazy to think we'll be fighting each other, right?"

"Each other and me."

The duet turned around, and nearby came Yaoyorozu, arms folded behind her back as she looked at the pair with a red glance.

"Yaoyorozu... actually, now that you're here, we can do something," Midoriya folded his arms. "Before the battle starts, I think we should make a deal."

"I never thought I'd see the day you would actually say something like that, Midoriya," Hatsume smirked. "But I'm interested! What's the deal?"

"And how are we going to do this, exactly?" Yaoyorozu asked as she raised an eyebrow. "There's three of us, and only one can win."

"That's exactly how we'll do it: we make a deal for when one of us wins," Midoriya put his hands on his hips. "For example, if I win, you, Yaoyorozu, will drop this entire thing with me becoming your mate, and will go find someone else."

"And what about Hatsume over here?" Yaoyorozu narrowed her eyes. "It's not fair that only I get a punishment while she gets scot free."

"True..." Midoriya snapped his fingers. "I know! If I win, Yaoyorozu will do what I just established, and Hatsume will give me ideas for a new hero costume!"

"That sounds more like a reward to me," Hatsume giggled. "And also, why? Are you planning to change your hero costume?"

Midoriya scratched the back of his head and sighed, "The truth is, after everything that's happened and compared to my classmates' costumes, I just feel like mine was made from scraps. And it was; Mom made it in order to compensate for not supporting me all those years, and I did like it at first. Now, though-"

"You think it's time you give it an upgrade, understand," Hatsume remarked with a little nod. "But why ask me and not a support company?"

Midoriya smiled. "Because I want to give you a challenge."

Hatsume gently pinched the boy's cheek. "You know how to bring a smile to my face!"

The pair laughed for a little bit while Yaoyorozu glanced at them, her expression souring and growing angrier until she got between them and separated them.

"Now for my terms: If _I_ win, you, Midoriya, will become my mate, no questions asked. And Hatsume will give up any and all pretense of a romantic relationship with you."

Hatsume narrowed her eyes. "Alright then, if _I_ win, you will leave Midoriya alone, and focus on getting a mate from your own class, no ifs or buts. And Midoriya..."

Hatsume smirked. "Will call me by my first name."

The winged duo gasped.

"Oh yeah, I went there."

"So you made good on your promise after all," Midoriya extended his hand forward. "Anyway, now that we've all given our terms, do we have a deal?"

Hatsume put her hand over Midoriya's, and after a little bit of hesitation, Yaoyorozu joined in as well. The trio shook hands, gave each a nod, and promptly separated to go their separate ways to the arena.

Hatsume and Midoriya, of course, went together, while Yaoyorozu left on her own.

"Izuku!"

The pink-green pair stopped and turned around, immediately seeing Inko running up to them while waving her hand.

"Mom?!"

"Hi, Izuku!" Inko chirped as she reached the teenagers. "Are you getting ready for your big match?"

"Yes I am, but what are you doing here?!" Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "W-Weren't you going to watch the sports festival from home?"

"I was, but then I was informed that the jerk known as Mina Ashido was participating," Inko narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. "As soon as I received the news, I couldn't sit still. So I called one of my co-workers, we got the arrest warrant, and we came here as soon as we could."

"Right, I forgot you work as a detective," Midoriya folded his arms and looked at the ceiling. "I still find it weird you decided to become a detective after leaving the support business."

"Wait, she left it?" Hatsume raised an eyebrow. "From the way she helped Melissa with my eyes, and the other gadgets I've seen, I thought she was still working with support."

"No, those were special occassions. The truth is, I quit the gadgeting game a long time ago, due to... personal reasons," Inko pocketed her hands. "Now I work as a detective to put my smarts to use."

"So, Izuku got your smarts, huh?" Hatsume asked, throwing a sly look at the greenette.

"Yup, and everything else he got from his father," Inko frowned for a brief moment before regaining her composure. "Anyway, Tsukauchi has taken Ashido into custody, and he told me to stay behind to watch the final match."

Midoriya smiled. "That was nice of him. But, well, we gotta get going, Mom."

"I understand, I have to get going to the stands too," Inko scratched the back of her head. "Maybe if I run fast enough, I'll get a good seat in the front row!"

The Midoriyas chuckled for a moment before separating, with Hatsume eyeing their separation with a neutral expression until Midoriya noticed her.

"Is something wrong, Hatsume?"

The girl returned to reality, formed a smile, and shook her head.

"Nothing, let's go."

Hatsume lead the way to the arena, and after a moment of hesitant concern, Midoriya followed her.

* * *

Yaoyorozu scratched her chin as she thought about what to do in order to win the incoming fight. She could always just throw Midoriya and Hatsume out of bounds, but as their previous fights proved, that would definitely be easier said than done. Furthermore, there was also the matter of her father-

"Momo!"

Speak of the devil and he doth appear. Yaoyorozu stopped on her tracks and turned around to see Hawks approaching her slowly, hands pocketed in his coat.

"Dad."

Hawks flinched at the girl's harsh tone of voice, but quickly regained his composure and took a deep breath. "Listen, Momo, I know you must still be upset after our last argument. But, I just want you to know-"

"That you only want what's best for me, yes, I know," Yaoyorozu looked elsewhere and pouted, spreading her wings as an act of intimidation. "You tell me the same hollow words every time, Dad."

Hawks frowned. "You think my words are hollow?"

Yaoyorozu's wings retracted a bit. "Not so much your words as your reasoning. You've never told me why you wanted to clip my wings, or why it was the best for me. You just said so, and I can't accept that."

Hawks lowered his head and pocketed his hands. "Your mother."

Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow, prompting the man to explain:

"When your mother gave birth to you, she put a big emphasis on the fact you had wings. Everyone in the hospital, including myself, figured this was the result of your Quirk, but your mother thought otherwise. She thought it was a simple inheritted mutation, and that your Quirk would appear when you became four."

Yaoyorozu put a hand over her chest, feeling it tightening, for some reason.

"So, she began micromanaging your every move. Where you would go for kindergarten, what lessons you'd be taught at home, she even got one of her goons to watch you when you came to visit my agency."

"Those visits were always the best," Yaoyorozu smiled. "But, what are you trying to get at, here?"

"Momo, your Quirk is incredible, but just as it can solve a lot of problems, it can also create them if it ends up in the wrong hands," Hawks scratched the back of his head. "What I'm trying to get at, is the reason I want you to clip your wings is..."

Hawks took a deep breath and confessed:

"I was worried that your mother would see you as a tool if you kept both the wings and the Quirk."

Yaoyorozu's eyes widened. "But, if that was the reason, why didn't you just tell me about it?"

Hawks' turn came right afterwards. "Wait, you believe me?"

"Well, I don't have a reason _not_ to," Yaoyorozu shrugged. "But for the sake of argument, let's just say I'm considering believing you."

"Well, to answer your question, telling a child that one of their parents wants to use them because of their powerful Quirk isn't something easy to say," Hawks scratched his cheek and smiled sheepishly. "Besides, I have to admit, thinking before doing anything has never been my forte."

Yaoyorozu rolled her eyes. "Reminds me of one of my classmates."

"So, anyhow, that's the reason why I want you to clip your wings," Hawks added. "Do you believe me?"

Yaoyorozu hummed in thought for a moment, tapping her cheek as she tried to reach a conclusion. The situation felt like it should've been easily solved with yes or no, but still...

"I got a fight coming up, and I need to keep my focus on that," Yaoyorozu replied. "I'll tell you what I think after the fight, alright, Dad?"

Hawks simply nodded once, and he stared silently as Yaoyorozu left, waving her hand slightly.

* * *

"Alright, everybody! You've waited long enough!" Nejire excitedly proclaimed. "It's time to begin the final fight!"

The audience cheered as the trio finally reached the arena, and they began stretching in preparation for the upcoming brawl.

"ON THIS CORNER! THE SUN WASN'T HOT ENOUGH TO MELT HIS WINGS! IS THERE SOMETHING IN THIS UNIVERSE THAT CAN BRING HIS ONSLAUGHT TO A HALT?! IT'S THE RISING STAR OF CLASS 1-B, THE UNSTOPPABLE FORCE, IZUKU MIDORIYA!"

"Go, Midoriya!" Monoma exclaimed. "You're this close to bring Class 1-B to glory! Don't let us down!"

Kendo jabbed Monoma in the neck. "Nevermind him, Midoriya, just do your best!"

"VERSUS! AN ENTHRALLING VOICE COULDN'T STOP HER! A FELLOW GADGETEER COULDN'T STOP HER! AND IF SHE HAD FOUGHT HER, EVEN THE DEVIL HERSELF WOULDN'T HAVE MANAGED TO SLOW HER DOWN! THE IMMOVABLE OBJECT FROM THE SUPPORT COURSE, MEI HATSUME!"

"Hatsume!"

The pink-haired gadgeteer turned around, and she had to hold back her laughter at what she saw: Mineta standing on top of his chair, wearing a cheerleader outfit and moving his pom poms around. As he did this, the rest of the courses looked dumbfounded, except for the shocked duo of Shinsou and Eri.

"Give it your all!"

"Huh, he's actually wearing a cheerleader outfit," Shinsou blurted. "If he can do it, I can't see why you can't, Eri."

Eri clenched her fist and punched Shinsou right in the gut.

"AND FOR THE FINAL OPPONENT! SHE'S PROVEN TO HAVE QUITE A FEW TRICKS UP HER SLEEVE! WILL THIS FINAL BATTLE CONVINCE HER TO GO ALL OUT AND BECOME A FORCE OF NATURE?! THE VOID OF CREATION, CLASS 1-A'S MOMO YAOYOROZU!"

"Yeah, Yaomomo!" Uraraka chirped. "This is the final hurdle! Throttle to the finish!"

"Give it your all, Yaoyorozu!" Melissa shouted.

"Why are you cheering for Rich Witch?" Bakugou asked dumbfounded. "Shouldn't you be cheering for Sniper or Deku?"

_Was that the second or third nickname Bakugou's given Hatsume? Either he has trouble picking just one, or something else is going on._ Melissa thought before responding with a smile, "Midoriya and Hatsume might be my friends, but Yaoyorozu's my classmate. And, to be honest with you..."

Melissa turned back to the trio, and folded her arms with a smile.

"She's gonna need as much luck as she can get."

"Alright, I want a good, clean fight! You already know the rules: no attacks with the intent to kill allowed, and if you're either knocked out or thrown out of the arena, you're out!" Midnight recapped. "If you got all this, then let's-"

"START!"

Yaoyorozu spread her wings and flew up high, with Midoriya activating the boots to follow after her. However, just as he began to fall down, Yaoyorozu flew straight to him and grabbed him in a tight hug.

"Nice try, Midoriya, but I know how your Quirk works," Yaoyorozu scanned the ground. "Now, where can I put you..."

Yaoyorozu didn't get much time to think about it, since Hatsume promptly appeared right near her, getting ready to throw a punch.

_Oh, not this time!_

Yaoyorozu spread her left wing to hit Hatsume... and she wound up hitting a pauldron-like gadget she had on her shoulder. Then, the gadgeteer pressed a pink button on the side, and a gust of wind struck the black swing girl hard enough to not only send her flying back, but release Midoriya, who summoned his wings just as he and Hatsume fell.

"One of Mineta's inventions?"

"Partially: I reverse engineered his design and made it my own!"

Yaoyorozu growled at the sight of Midoriya and Hatsume together, and she brought her flight to a stop to generate a lasso from her stomach, which she took out and swung as she flapped her wings once again. Midoriya and Hatsume were trapped in the lasso, and Yaoyorozu took the chance to swung it directly towards the grass.

However, Midoriya spread his wings and this was enough to snap the lasso in two. He grabbed Hatsume with one arm while grabbing what remained of the lasso with the other, engaging in a pull-the-rope deal with Yaoyorozu before he gained enough strength to send her flying towards the grass instead.

Yaoyorozu quickly reacted, though, by creating a blade from her stomach and using it to cut the lasso in two, resuming flight moments before she touched the grass.

With that done, Hatsume and Midoriya landed back at the arena, the latter's wings dissipating as he threw a look at Yaoyorozu, who responded with an even more intense glare.

"WHOA EVERYBODY! IT SEEMS THAT THIS THREE-WAY BATTLE HAS DEVOLVED INTO A TAG TEAM! THE IMMOVABLE OBJECT AND UNSTOPPABLE FORCE HAVE TEAMED UP TOGETHER TO FACE THE VOID OF CREATION!"

"Well, if you think about it, an unstoppable force and immovable object facing each other would be a big pain to figure out-"

"AND THIS IS WAY MORE INTERESTING! BUT OF COURSE, WHAT WILL THE REFEREE THINK OF THIS?!"

Midnight glanced at Yaoyorozu as she held her spot in the sky, and then she turned to see Hatsume and Midoriya looking at her, while unknowingly holding hands. Seeing the latter made her decision much easier.

"I'll allow it, but once one of you three is taken out, no matter who, we proceed with a one-on-one battle, got it?"

Hatsume and Midoriya nodded, and the battle resumed soon afterwards: Yaoyorozu dived straight for the duo as she coated her right arm in a white light. Hatsume jumped in front of Midoriya and put her "Hatsu-Shieldron" in front, but all Yaoyorozu did was smirk at this.

Once close enough, Yaoyorozu threw a right punch, her arm now equipped with metallic armor. Not only did the resulting punch turn out to be strong enough to nearly send the duo out of the arena, but the Hatsu-Shieldron released sparks before collapsing apart into pieces.

"No way!" Hatsume grimaced. "That punch was strong enough to destroy the Hatsu-Shieldron?!"

"Well, how much power could it hold before being destroyed?!" Midoriya asked.

Hatsume hesitated, and scratched her head. "Let's just say we should make sure we don't get hit by it."

This was soon followed by Yaoyorozu running straight for the duo as she undid the armor in her right arm, and reached for her stomach. Not wasting any time, Hatsume equipped her Hatsu-Boosters and shot forward while Midoriya pressed his boots to take off to the sky.

However, Yaoyorozu once again smirked at this as she sidestepped Hatsume's incoming rush, and she took out a whip from her stomach, one long enough to catch Midoriya before he could get out of her reach.

"You're not spreading your wings that easily again!"

Hatsume stopped short of the borders of the arena, and as soon as she saw Yaoyorozu holding Midoriya in place, she turned around and, removed the Hatsu-Boosters, and pressed their buttons to send them flying straight for the black swan girl's head.

They successfully hit her and Yaoyorozu let go, allowing Midoriya to fall and activate his wings.

From there, Hatsume and Midoriya headed straight for Yaoyorozu, the former getting ready to use the Hatsu-Fist, while the latter sacrificed one of his wings to surround his arm with a white energy. As for Yaoyorozu, she glanced at the two of them before she created a smoke bomb from her stomach and threw it to the ground, surrounding the three in a smoke cloud.

Once the smoke cloud dispersed, it was revealed that Hatsume and Midoriya had thrown their punches, but they wound up hitting each other square in the cheek, with Yaoyorozu crouching down until she opened her eyes and spread her wings, hitting the duo hard enough to send back a couple feet.

Midoriya rubbed his cheek and spat out a tooth, while Hatsume did the same... and realized she couldn't close her right eye. Not only that, but her vision from that eye was severely messed up: static flashed constantly while the few snippets of the world around her got color, only to go monochrome and back again, and that's if they lasted long enough to turn to static.

"OH MAN! AFTER WORKING TOGETHER TO BEAT YAOYOROZU, HATSUME AND MIDORIYA HAVE BEEN TRICKED INTO HITTING EACH OTHER, AND WHAT A HIT!"

"This isn't going to turn into a fight similar to the Shiozaki and Ashido one, right?" Nejire asked fearfully. "I don't wanna see something like that again!"

Hatsume didn't waste any time before she grabbed the faulty eye, and ripped it clean off, causing the audience to gasp as she wobbled a little, but regained her composure quickly enough.

It was at this moment that Yaoyorozu frowned with regret, and Midoriya's protective instincts took over: his eyes slowly became completely orange as he shot a furious glare at Yaoyorozu, and bared his sharpened teeth-

"Izuku!"

The boy flinched and turned back to Hatsume, who gave him a reassuring smile and a little nod. However, while thie clearly meant to tell the boy she was okay, there was also a hint of something else.

A hint of Hatsume asking Midoriya to win this fight with her. Together.

Midoriya's eyes went from completely orange, to a normal shade of white, with orange pupils reappearing soon afterwards. And, without any wait in between, he clenched his fists as he got surrounded by a white aura, and spread his wings once more.

And like last time, they didn't vanish as the

"Holy shit, abs!" Hatsume exclaimed.

Abs indeed, as the transformation had caused Midoriya's shirt to tear into pieces, revealing his lean, muscular frame. He wasn't a bodybuilder by any means, but he was much more muscled and toned than would be expected from a boy his age.

As for the rest of his form, it was the same as the first time he transformed: white messy hair, orange glowing eyes, and a pair of wide, majestic swan wings from his back. This time, however, his skin remained a normal tone, with his forearms and hands coated in a white, glowing energy.

"WELL, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THIS! IZUKU MIDORIYA HAS SEEMINGLY EVOLVED HIS QUIRK AND BECOME A MUSCULAR SWAN-WINGED HIGH SCHOOLER! THAT WAS A SENTENCE I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SAY FOLKS, BUT HEY, THIS IS U.A.!"

"I see, so you're finally going all out, huh?" Yaoyorozu remarked as she stood up and stretched a bit. "Well then, if you're finally using all you got..."

Yaoyorozu spread her wings and sprung to the skies.

"I'm going to give it my all as well!"

Once high enough, Yaoyorozu stopped in mid-air and got surrounded by a white energy. She covered her body in her wings before she spread them once more, revealing her physique had become more... petite, compared to her earlier self.

And then the light surrounding her dissipated and reformed around her as several, fairly small spheres of light. With a snap of her fingers, the spheres transformed into ethereal feathers, each aimed directly at the arena below.

"AND YAOYOROZU DECIDES TO GO ALL OUT AS WELL! SACRIFICING HER BOMBASTIC FIGURE FOR AN ALL-OUT ATTACK, CAN HATSUME AND MIDORIYA FIND A WAY OUT OF THIS?!"

Hatsume looked at the incoming rain of feathers and grimaced, only to feel a warm sensation next to her. This warmth came from Midoriya, who offered his hand with a little smile.

Returning the smile, Hatsume accepted, just in time for Yaoyorozu to shoot the arrows down at them.

Midoriya spread his wings and flew up with Hatsume by his side, dodging each and every feather that was shot at their way. However, the rain of feathers was soon accompanied by a different rain: one of white lights that was heading up instead of down.

And judging by Yaoyorozu's form being surrounded by light once more, it became clear what the light was about.

"She's taking back the lipids!" Hatsume exclaimed.

"She won't get to use them again!" Midoriya answered.

Once high enough, Midoriya and Hatsume flew right above Yaoyorozu, whose light-coated form returned to its original physique as she looked up... and saw Hatsume, reeling back the Hatsu-Fist, and Midoriya, doing the same with his glowing fist.

Yaoyorozu brought her black wings in front of her, hoping to block the attack. However, with the combined forces of the Hatsu-Fist and Midoriya's swan-powered punch, Yaoyorozu was sent crashing on the ground hard enough to shatter the very arena into pieces.

Midnight walked close to the black swan girl as Midoriya and Hatsume flew back down on a slightly-less cracked portion of the arena.

"Yaoyorozu is out!"

The audience cheered as Hatsume raised the Hatsu-Fist, and saw it crumble to pieces. "Well, that took care of that. Guess we gotta fight next-"

Then, Midoriya's form suddenly turned back to his base and the boy collapsed.

"Izuku!"

Hatsume crouched down to the boy's chest as Midnight walked up to them. Hearing his heartbeat calmed her down slightly, enough that she didn't notice Midnight confirm the boy couldn't go any further.

"Midoriya is out!"

Hatsume raised her head and gasped, instantly realizing what this meant as Midnight grabbed her arm and raised it. "Wait-"

"The winner of the sports festival is Mei Hatsume!"

The audience blew up in ecstatic joy, and as Hatsume scanned her surroundings to see everyone rejoice, she could only say two words with utter disbelief:

"No way..."


	27. Sports Festival Finale

"AND WE'RE BACK AFTER THAT EXCITING FINAL BATTLE, EVERYBODY! YOU'VE ALL SEEN WITH YOUR OWN EYES! AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, IT'S TIME TO SHOW YOU-"

"-The top three students!" Nejire exclaimed.

The audience cheered as the place where the arena once stood opened up, and from there rose three pillars. Hatsume, Midoriya, and Yaoyorozu stood on the pillars, landing at first, second, and third place.

Hatsume stood dumbfounded, Midoriya waved his hand with a little smile, and Yaoyorozu folded her arms and looked at the ground, a saddened expression on her face.

"Yaoyorozu doesn't look too happy," Melissa remarked.

"She was so close to winning the festival, but Midoriya and Hatsume's teamwork proved to be too much," Uraraka explained, resting her chin on her palm. "She even managed, for the briefest of moments, to use both her Quirk and her wings at the same time, and it still wasn't enough."

"That's no reason to be a crybaby about it, though," Bakugou argued, scratching his head. "Besides, she's still got two more tries to win this thing."

"But what she cared about was winning this year's festival, and she failed," Uraraka argued back, leaning closer with a stern expression. "If you ask me, I'd say she has every right to be upset."

"Fine, fair point, but if she stays depressed for too damn long, I'm definitely complaining."

Melissa quietly wondered why she was stuck in the middle of this argument.

"And now," Midnight spoke as she walked to the pillars. "To deliver the medals..."

A booming laugh echoed across the stadium, causing everyone to look up as a familiar, muscular shadow appeared. Melissa, Midoriya, and a few other people smiled wide as the figure leaped from its spot, and landed right next to Midnight.

"I AM-"

"All Might!"

Everything went quiet for a second as the smoke dispersed, revealing All Might with his mouth open. He closed it and turned to a sheepish Midnight.

"S-Sorry, I talked over you."

"It's okay!" All Might flashed a thumbs up. "After all, I _am_ All Might!"

The number one hero laughed some more as he stood up, then stopped just in time to begin the medal ceremony proper. He took out a medal, and walked up to the third place pillar.

"Young Yaoyorozu!"

Yaoyorozu perked up. "Y-Yes!"

"You did the best you could do, Young Yaoyorozu. I'm sure wherever they are, your parents are very proud of the progress you've made," All Might put a hand on Yaoyorozu's shoulder. "Just as I'm proud to have you as one of my star students."

Yaoyorozu's eyes widened. "I'm one of your star students?"

All Might laughed. "Of course! Why wouldn't you be? Smart, athletic, studious, and honest to a fault!"

The number one hero put the medal on Yaoyorozu's neck.

"You've earned your place in the hero course, Young Yaoyorozu. You've proven that today."

Yaoyorozu looked at the medal, then back at All Might's wide smile and his thumbs up. With a feeling of joy emanating from her, the girl took a deep breath and held back tears as she answered.

"T-Thank you, All Might."

"Your welcome," the hero walked to the next pillar. "Now, Young Midoriya!"

Midoriya straightened up. "Yes!"

And he almost lost his composure when the muscular hero hugged him.

"The first day I saw you, I had a feeling you would give it your all in order to make up for being a late bloomer, and I'm happy to say, you've surpassed all of my expectations!" All Might patted Midoriya's back. "I'm glad to have you as part of the hero course, Young Midoriya."

Midoriya hesitantly hugged back. "And I'm glad I didn't disappoint you, All Might."

All Might tightened the hug and whispered, "And I'm also glad you opened my eyes the first time we met. If you hadn't told me about that powerless thing, I may've kept a close-minded look at my successor. So, once again, thank you, Young Midoriya."

All Might separated from the boy and handed him the medal, which he accepted graciously.

Then the man jumped into the first place pillar and landed in front of Hatsume, who snapped back to reality immediately.

"All Might, sir!"

"You were certainly the biggest surprise of the festival. But one that was most definitely welcomed!" All Might put a hand on Hatsume's shoulder. "You truly embody the motto of U.A."

"I... I do?"

All Might laughed and explained as he put the medal around her neck:

"You were blinded by the Hero Killer Stain, and you got up! Young Ashido bothered you through the semester and the festival, and you got up! And more importantly, you stood in the arena with two other opponents, both star students, and you didn't just stand with them! You fought them, and came out victorious!"

All Might pounded his chest.

"That is to go beyond! That, is to go..."

All Might eyed Yaoyorozu and Midoriya, who gave him a nod before he turned back to Hatsume. The gadgeteer smiled, gave a nod, and raised her arm as the entire stadium exclaimed with excitement:

"PLUS ULTRAAAAA!"

* * *

"We were _this_ close, Midoriya!" Monoma cried. "We were literally only inches away from winning the sports festival, and you collapsed right then and there!"

"Monoma, stop it, you know it's not Midoriya's fault that he collapsed!" Kendo argued, jabbing the crying boy. "His Quirk basically upgraded itself out of nowhere; sudden transformations like that never last long!"

"I know, but it's so frustrating!"

Midoriya took a deep breath as Kendo and Monoma kept arguing. He was currently sitting on a table with Tokage and a couple other classmates, namely girls.

"So, that form you unlocked was quite something, Miroidya, but on more important matters," Tokage spoke, then leaned closer to the guy. "Geez, you never told us you were hiding such sweet abs!"

Yanagi took over Shiozaki's role and slapped Tokage, though she frowned after doing so. "It doesn't feel the same."

"No, it doesn't. And to answer your question, Tokage, I trained my body real hard during the ten months before the entrance exam," Midoriya explained, twiddling his fingers. "Since I had no idea I could do anything besides summon wings, I thought training my body was the most logical choice."

"Still, you don't just get abs like that from simple training," Tokage remarked. "What did you do, meditate? Break logs? Suplex a mountain?"

Midoriya smirked. "That's a secret."

Tokage pouted and folded her arms, causing Midoriya to chuckle as he stood up, then winced in pain.

"Whoa, hold it there, cowboy!" Tokage said as she and the girls helped the guy sit back down. "You're not in any condition to move! Where are you even going? Gonna go see your girlfriend?"

"I was planning to go meet Hatsume, but not now," Midoriya shook his head. "I was actually planning to go see Yaoyorozu."

Kendo and Monoma seemingly heard this, since they were up in Midoriya's nose soon after. "You wanna go see Yaoyorozu? Really?!"

"I know it sounds crazy, but once you ignore the fact she wanted me to become her mate, Yaoyorozu wasn't that bad," Midoriya scratched the back of his head. "And I don't want her to think that just because I won't be her mate, doesn't mean I don't want to be friends."

"So you're gonna friendzone her after she came close to winning the festival, only to fail in the end," Monoma folded his arms. "I didn't know you could be this cruel, Midoriya-"

*SMACK*

"Nevermind him, Midoriya." Kendo frowned. "However, you have to admit, maybe you're taking things a bit too fast, Midoriya. Give her some time to think about what happened and, when she's feeling better, you can tell her about it."

"Perhaps, but," Midoriya lowered his head. "I can't help but feel worried about her..."

* * *

"Melissa, is something wrong?"

The bespectacled inventor flinched and turned to her side to see Shimura standing next to her. She then glanced back at the sight she was absentmindedly looking at before: Uraraka comforting a frowning Yaoyorozu.

"Oh, well, I'm just worried about Yaoyorozu," Melissa answered, resting her cheek on her palm. "She got so far, and yet, she was soundly beaten-"

"Then go comfort her yourself."

Melissa turned back to Shimura, and after throwing a baffled look at him, she silently agreed with him and stood up. She walked over to the duo, and sat to Yaoyorozu's free side.

"So, Yaoyorozu," she began. "Third place, huh?"

"If you don't have anything to say that will make Yaomomo feel better, don't bother, Shield," Uraraka remarked. "She's not feeling well right now."

"Yeah, I clearly noticed, and I wanted to help," Melissa stood up awkwardly. "But, I can't really think of anything to do, so I guess I'll leave you alone-"

"Wait, please."

The blonde inventor stopped and turned back to see Yaoyorozu twiddling her fingers as she turned to look at her. "How... do you get through this?"

Melissa raised an eyebrow.

"I-I mean, how do you... continue with your life... knowing that you failed to do what you set out to do?" Yaoyorozu frowned. "I-In my case, get Midoriya as a mate, and prove to my Dad that I can keep my wings without them hindering my Quirk, and... well, you know."

Melissa shrugged. "That's simple, I just stand up and keep moving."

Uraraka lowered her eyelids. "Care to be a bit more specific?"

"Okay, well, think about this: for as serious as we took this event, it was just a school event; nothing more, nothing less," Melissa argued. "You lost in the end? Sure. You didn't get Midoriya as a mate? Fine. Neither means the end of the world for you."

"But-"

"The point of the sports festival is to show the current pro-heroes what we can do as the next generation. And believe me, your shower of feathers alone probably impressed several dozen pro-heroes."

Yaoyorozu blushed. "W-Well, t-that's good, but-"

"And about Midoriya not being your mate, both classes have literally over a dozen guys: even if we were to take out Class 1-B, which we might as well do considering what you did, you could still go for one of the guys in 1-A, like Tokoyami."

Yaoyorozu scratched her chin. "Now that you mention it, I have been hanging out with him more often-"

"Good! Then try taking the next step with him! And if that doesn't work out, you still got several guys to try out." Melissa took a deep breath. "Finally, don't leave the situation with Midoriya as it is. Try to stay friends with him."

"I definitely have to agree with this bit," Uraraka remarked. "As heroes, we need to try and get a good network between our fellow hero students, and if you leave the situation with Midoriya as it is, you might close off potential partners: if not Midoriya, then the rest of 1-B."

"I see..." Yaoyorozu frowned. "Guess I messed up harder than I thought, huh? I'll be sure to fix it as soon as I can." the black swan girl flashed a smile. "Thanks, Melissa."

"No problem! Glad I could help!" Melissa adjusted her glasses. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm curious as to where Hatsume is right now..."

* * *

She still couldn't believe it. She was looking at the medal that was proof that she was the winner of the entire sports festival, and yet, she still felt like the world was pulling a prank on her.

Especially because she was currently sitting on a room with All Might's deflated form, and Principal Nezu.

"Alright, thanks for coming at quick notice, Hatsume," Nezu remarked. "There's something we'd like to discuss with you."

"If it's about keeping All Might's true identity a secret, it's a bit late," Hatsume scratched her head. "Midoriya and I have been keeping our mouth's shut."

"No, that's not it-"

"And if Melissa seems about to spill the beans, Midoriya and I will make sure to stop her."

"That would actually be vastly appreciated, thank you," Nezu put his paws together. "But that's not it. Let me get to the point: Mina Ashido has been expelled from U.A. after her arrest due to delinquent behavior."

"About time! Seriously, I was starting to worry how long it'd be until-" Hatsume winced. "Wait, if she's out, that means there's a vacant spot in Class 1-A, right?"

Nezu nodded. "And I'm offering you that spot."

Hatsume dropped the medal. Now this had to be a dream, it just had to be: winning the sports festival was one thing, but being given the chance to join the hero course? That was unbelievable!

Not unwelcomed, though, just unbelievable.

"W-Why me, though?" Hatsume blurted. "S-Surely you have over a dozen other students who're more worthy than me!"

"Perhaps, but today, you were the one to show the potential to become a hero," All Might argued. "And like I said before, you did so with a disadvantage."

Hatsume moved her hand over her empty eye socket. "Still, I... I can't accept-"

"It's perfectly alright if you decline the offer, Hatsume, we just wanted to let you know about the vacant spot," Nezu got an idea. "In fact, if you have any suggestion for who could take the spot, we'd gladly hear it."

Just then, Hatsume remembered a certain insomniac-looking boy.

"Well, if you're willing to consider it..."

* * *

After a little argument with the principal and All Might, Hatsume walked out of the office... only to be met with Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, and Melissa outside.

"Oh hey, guys," she remarked, rubbing her arms. "What are you doing here?"

"We were told you were with the principal and All Might and we got a little worried," Midoriya explained. "Did something happen?"

"No, they just told me that since Ashido was arrested, there's a vacant spot in Class 1-A," Hatsume scratched the back of her head. "And, thanks to my performance, they gave me the choice to take that spot."

Midoriya's eyes widened and he gained a big smile, before Hatsume added:

"I declined."

He frowned immediately. "Why?"

"I'm just not cut out for the hero stuff, Izuku," Hatsume smiled. "Besides, they gave me the option to suggest someone else could take that spot, so I did, we talked a bit, and they're going to consider my suggestion."

"Still, it's a bit disappointing you declined," Midoriya smiled back. "I think you could've made a great hero, Mei."

Hatsume blushed as she formed a wide, slightly awkward smile.

"Okay, Izuku? Mei? You two are on first name basis now?" Melissa giggled. "Okay, spill, what happened while I was away?"

Hatsume and Midoriya put their fingers on their mouths. "That's a secret."

Melissa nodded with an amused smile. "Well, if you're wondering what I'm doing here, I'm accompanying Yaoyorozu: she wants to give you something."

The duo turned to the black swan girl, who took a deep breath before she reached for her stomach, and created... a pair of matryoshka dolls. Both resembling the images of Midoriya and Hatsume.

"Oh, cool, matryoshka dolls!" Midoriya chirped as he grabbed the doll based on Hatsume. "I've seen pictures about these things online, but I've never seen a real one before!"

"They're, gifts," Yaoyorozu explained. "Apology gifts. And a peace offering. A bit of both, really-"

Melissa nudged the black swan girl's side. "They're gifts, first and foremost."

"Okay, but, why?" Hatsume asked as she inspected the Midoriya-styled doll. "Is this your way of congratulating us?"

"Partially; it's also my way to ask someone to be my friend... and my way to apologize for this whole deal between us," Yaoyorozu blushed and twiddled her fingers. "You know, the whole "make Midoriya my mate" thing."

Midoriya lowered the doll. "Well, Yaoyorozu, now that you bring it up, I just want to let you know... we could still be friends."

Yaoyorozu nodded. "I think so too. I'd like to be friends with you."

"Just friends?"

"Just friends."

"This is the nicest friendzoning I've seen my life," Hatsume blurted. "Winning the festival was worth it just for this moment."

The quartet shared a short laugh before Yaoyorozu went back to the Class 1-A break room. Shortly after, Present Mic came with an announcement:

"ATTENTION, ATTENDERS AND ATTENDETTES! THE FIRST YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL IS ABOUT TO CONCLUDE! IF YOU DON'T WANNA END UP BEING KICKED OUT, PLEASE FORM A LINE AND GO BACK HOME!"

"You heard the man, it's time to leave," Melissa extended a hand forward. "Wanna head back home together?"

Midoriya and Hatsume held hands and exchanged looks and nods. Hatsume was the one to accept Melissa's offer.

And so, a trio of winners left the sports festival that day.

.

.

.


	28. Lockdown

Midoriya woke up and wasted no time getting ready for another day at U.A. The second and third year sports festival was about to begin, and that was going to take up most of the first few hours, so he quickly got dressed on his school uniform and left.

Once he reached the living room, however, he saw something interesting: Hatsume sleeping on the couch, snoring like a wild animal. Even with the not-so-pleasant smile, Midoriya couldn't help but smile.

Inko wasn't around to wake her up, though, so he grabbed the control remote and turned on the TV.

"In other news, the most prestigious hero school in Japan, UA, is currently on lockdown while the authorities investigate the school for any sign of villainous insiders."

Midoriya dropped the remote, which hit the ground loudly enough to wake up Hatsume. "Good morning, Izuku. What happened?"

"U.A.'s on lockdown."

"What?!"

Hatsume and Midoriya turned back to the TV, which was now showing Inko talking to a news reporter.

"After it was discovered that the apprentice of the infamous hero killer, Stain, was attending U.A., the police department unanimously agreed that this was a case we needed to investigate as soon as we could, and that the apprentice-NAME REDACTED-needed to be arrested."

"And why did it take you so long to perform the arrest?"

"Before we could begin a proper investigation, the principal of U.A., Nezu, came to us with a couple documents related to certain villain organizations. When asked where he got them, he kept silent, and simply asked us to wait until the sports festival finished to begin the investigation. Once we made the arrest the same day, he confessed that he got the documents from the apprentice herself."

"So, you're saying that this-NAME REDACTED-was smart enough to convince the U.A. faculty to let her participate in a public event like the sports festival?"

Inko nodded sadly. "What's more, the information on the documents had links to certain villain groups we've had trouble catching lately. So, getting that information was definitely a plus, even considering what had to be done to get it."

"Well, we're running out of time here, Detective Midoriya. Do you have any last words?"

"I just want to let you know that we're going to search every ink and croony of U.A. until we can say, for sure, that there's no risk of another insider within either the students or the staff."

"And that's it for today! Now, we'll go to the sports festival to try distract you from these shocking news-"

Midoriya snatched the control remote and turned off the TV, dropping the remote on the table as he rubbed his forehead in thought. "Did you hear what they said, Hatsume?!"

"Yeah, U.A.'s on lockdown, but the sports festival keeps going?" Hatsume shook her head. "I would put that event on lockdown too, or at least on hold-"

"The sports festival still being allowed to happen is the least of our worries," Midoriya said, scratching his chin. "Remember The Big Three? They're third years! So that means that, unless they were allowed to leave, they're going to be at the sports festival during the lockdown!"

"And their help would've been very appreciated, I assume," Hatsume took a deep breath. "Well, what do we do now? We can't go to school like this-"

*RIING! RIING!*

Midoriya reached for his pocket and took out his phone. It had a simple message from his mother, which read:

_Come to U.A. right now. Bring Hatsume and Melissa with you._

"It's Mom," Midoriya sighed. "She said I should go to U.A. regardless, and to bring you and Melissa too."

"Now that you mention her, how's Melissa going to react to the news?" Hatsume asked as she got up and left the couch. "We should go see how she-"

As soon as she took a step, Hatsume wobbled to the desk, hitting her shin and causing her to fall back to the couch, shouting in pain.

"Hatsume, are you alright?!" Midoriya ran up to the pink-haired gadgeteer and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "What happened?!"

"I don't know, I just took a step and my body just felt weird all of a sudden," Hatsume answered as she stood up with Midoriya's help. "Not only that, but I get this weird sensation on my head... And it's gone."

"What?"

"It's gone, the weird feeling, it just... vanished."

Midoriya frowned. "Now we definitely have to head to U.A., we're gonna need Recovery Girl to see what's up with you."

Midoriya helped Hatsume get dressed in her school uniform-good thing his apartment apparently had a spare-and they left the house before heading to Melissa's room next door.

As soon as Midoriya knocked the door, Melissa opened it and dragged the duo inside before slamming it shut. And judging by her All Might-themed pajamas and shocked expression, she had just found out the news.

"Guys, U.A.'s on lockdown-!"

"Yeah, we know," Hatsume sighed. "We just saw the news report."

"I'm still stunned," Melissa rubbed her forehead. "I mean, I had a feeling something like this would happen eventually, but I didn't think it'd happen today!"

"We can discuss when it should've happened later," Midoriya stated. "For now, we need to head there and figure out just what's going on."

"Yeah, Aunt Inko told me to head there and to take you two with me, did you guys-" Melissa paused upon seeing the duo's current position. "Midoriya, why are you carrying Hatsume like that?"

"Shortly after she got up, she started feeling weird, even mentioned having some ghost headache that left as quickly as it arrived," Midoriya eyed Hatsume with worry. "I'm gonna take her to Recovery Girl's office to see if she can find out if something's wrong with her."

"Alright, well, I'm gonna go get ready," Melissa said, playing with her hair as she shyly requested, "If you could just go outside and wait for a few minutes, I'll join you."

* * *

With no time to waste, the Musutafu trio entered the train to U.A. and sat down. As the train rode to the high school, Melissa folded her arms and tapped the floor repeatedly, while Midoriya focused on Hatsume, who was rubbing her head.

"How are you feeling, Hatsume?"

"A little better, but not by much," the gadgeteer sighed. "I don't know why, but I feel like I just got a lot... lighter, for some reason. As if something was taken away from me."

_As if something was taken away from her? But the entire house was locked down before we went to sleep..._

"Oh hey, isn't that the winner of the sports festival?"

Melissa and Midoriya flinched and turned around to see them being approached by what looked like an ordinary salaryman... except his hair was on fire. Literally.

"You were amazing back then! I'll be cheering you on next festival!"

Right, there was going to be two more sport festivals during the trio's remaining school life. However, more important than that, the man's statement seemed to have caught the attention of the other passengers.

"No way! Is she really here?!"

"Hey, she is! And she's with her boyfriend!"

"And the daughter of David Shield is here too!"

The trio grimaced as they were surrounded by passengers...

* * *

By the time the train had arrived at the station, the trio burst out with their hairs made a mess... or in Midoriya's case, made more of a mess.

"I hate being a celebrity," Hatsume growled matter-of-factly.

"Well, the good news is that if I've learned anything from my past dealings with celebrities, you'll be forgotten overnight as soon as the next big sensation comes up," Melissa said as she helped the trio stand up.

"Oh, you've arrived! Thank goodness!"

The trio turned to the source of the voice, and they saw Inko and Detective Tsukauchi approaching them. The latter was grabbing the former's hand as she rubbed her forehead with her free hand.

"Mom, what's going on? I mean, I know U.A. is on lockdown, but why did you need us to come here regardless?" Midoriya asked, walking towards the woman and crouching down once he noticed her groans. "And... do you feel well?"

"Nothing that can't be explained away due to constant work," Inko answered. "Things have been quite hectic at the police department since the arrest of Mina Ashido."

"We've been requested to put U.A. on lockdown and investigate the faculty and students thoroughly," Tsukauchi explained, getting the trio's attention. "This is done in order to make sure we find a case similar to Ashido, if there is such a case, and stop it before it can repeat her actions. And if there isn't someone like that, then we can remove the lockdown, but put U.A. under heavy supervision."

"I see... I guess as soon Mina's case was made public, the chance of there being someone else like her caused insecurity and paranoia," Midoriya clenched his fist. "Dang it, even when she's not around, she's ruining everything!"

"You can say that again, Deku."

Melissa and Hatsume turned around, and they saw Bakugou walking towards them, with Uraraka and Kirishima by his sides. "We got the news about the lockdown and I have an anger management class later this evening, so this better be good."

"Be on your best behavior, Bakugou," Uraraka told the explosive blonde. "You don't want the police to think you might be the next Mina, alright?"

"What the hell are you implying, Round Face!?"

"Guys, calm down, please don't start fighting now," Kirishima requested.

"Okay, it seems that the students are arriving," Inko turned back to her son and grabbed his hand. "The first thing we're gonna need all of you to do is head to Recovery Girl's office in order to do a health check up."

"Which is exactly what I came here for," Midoriya stood up and walked to Hatsume's side. "Let's go to her office, Hatsume."

"Right..."

* * *

Hatsume sat on a bed at the infirmary while Recovery Girl checked her clipboard for the results of the medical tests. Nearby them were Midoriya and Melissa, both looking concerned for their friend.

"Is Hatsume gonna be okay?" the trio asked in unison, causing them to look at each other in disbelief.

"Physically, there's no indication that damage has happened: her organs are fine, her temperature's average, and in general, I'd say she's perfectly fine..." Recovery Girl paused and frowned. "If it wasn't for one, troubling discovery I found."

Hatsume's eyes widened. "What is it?"

Recovery Girl grabbed one of her papers and revealed it. The paper showed an x-ray picture of Hatsume's head, right on her eyes. "As you can see, your Quirk factor is located right between your eyes, and its connected to your eyeballs."

Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "Wait, I thought having an extra pinky toe joint determined if you'd have a Quirk Factor?"

"That just determines whether the Quirk Factor will develop or not," Melissa explained, raising her index finger. "The Quirk Factor itself will appear somewhere around the body, and from there it will assimilate itself into the body to create a Quirk."

"And if the Quirk Factor itself gets damaged, so does the Quirk," Recovery Girl turned back to hatsume. "In short, it appears you have lost your Quirk."

"Lost my Quirk?" Hatsume tilted her head. "You mean, having my eyes destroyed wasn't enough for me to lose it?"

"Your eyes being destroyed simply removed your main method of activating it, however, you could theoretically gain the ability to use it again if your eyes were ever to heal back to normal," Recovery Girl explained with a solemn tone. "However, if something happens to the Quirk Factor, then the Quirk itself can be lost, if the damage is bad enough."

Hatsume lowered her head and Midoriya put a hand on her back as Mineta asked, "Is there any way to fix the damage?"

"Well, there's a way... is what I'd say if there was damage to heal," Recovery Girl scratched her chin. "You see, after checking the results, it seems Hatsume's Quirk Factor is... fine. It just seems to have lost her Quirk."

"Well, how's that even possible?" Midoriya folded his arms. "You said it yourself, doing damage to the Quirk Factor is what causes the Quirk to be lost, so how can it be fine and yet not have a Quirk?"

"Believe me, this anomaly baffles me as well, unless we consider there being a Quirk that can take other Quirks," Recovery Girl paused to think about it. "But that would only make it harder for you to sleep at night-"

"Does it exist?"

The girls raised their eyebrows at the source of the question: Midoriya, who folded his arms as he asked once more:

"Does such a thing exist? A Quirk that can take away other Quirks?"

* * *

With Recovery Girl unable-if not unwilling-to provide the answer, the Musutafu Trio headed to the next best person to ask the question: All Might. They were sitting at the couch in his office, the man in his skeletal form as he took a sip of coffee-though how he could take it when he had no stomach anymore was a mystery-and bluntly asked:

"Are you truly prepared to have your views on the world potentially changed irrevocably?"

Those words from All Might were enough to send infernal chills down the teenagers' spines. In particular, Midoriya and Hatsume were left shaken, and honestly quite hesitant to go through with the question. If what the old hero was saying was true, and he had no reason to lie so it HAD to be true, then maybe this wasn't something they should know right now.

"I... I think I'm needed at the workshop," Hatsume said, standing up and scratching her head. "Me blowing stuff up in there has become so common Power Loader might be growing worried with all the silence."

"A-And I should go join my classmates for the inspection," Midoriya said, standing up as well. "If even one of us isn't present, the police are going to get very suspicious, and I don't want them to go through with that."

Excusing themselves, Midoriya and Hatsume awkwardly left the office, leaving Melissa and All Might alone.

"And what about you, Young Melissa?" All Might asked, getting blonde inventor's attention. "Class 1-A's inspection is coming up, so you should get going too."

"I... I want to know," Melissa stated, adjusting her glasses. "If I'm going to become the next Symbol of Peace... the next Number One Hero... I need to know the dark and gritty of what I'm about to face."

All Might put his coffee on the table and took a deep breath.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Young Melissa. The things I'm about to tell you could potentially change how you see society as a whole. Everything you used to know, will change irrevocably. Nothing will be the same after this conversation, and if you think you were having second thoughts about becoming my successor before, the stuff I'll reveal to you might make you think I made a mistake, that I should've picked someone else, that you weren't cutout for this role."

All Might crossed his fingers and flashed a serious stare.

"With all this in mind, do you still want to know?"

Melissa clutched her chest, feeling a heavy sensation within it. Something told her it was her body telling her to say no and continue living in ignorance. But if she knew something, is that whatever All Might would tell her wouldn't make it go away. In fact, it might make it worse.

But she had no choice. No, it wasn't just that she had no choice, but she had a job to do now: become the next Symbol of Peace and follow on All Might's footsteps. And how was she supposed to do that if she was blissfully ignorant of society as a whole?

"Yes, Uncle Might, I want to know."

All Might's eyes widened as Melissa added, with a tone of determination:

"I _need_ to know-"

"_Could Melissa Shield please head to the Class 1-A classroom to begin the inspection?_"

The ninth inheritor shot up from her seat and turned to the speaker on the wall, eyeing it with the same disdain a girl would against a guy who just opened a door while she was changing.

All Might wasn't nearly as bothered by the interruption, however. In fact, he seemed rather relieved about it.

"Guess we'll have to leave this conversation for another time, Young Melissa," the skeletal man remarked with a little smile. "Now go before the police start getting suspicious."

"B-But... t-the truth about society, about the Quirk that can take other Quirks-!"

"Learning about those won't help you in the slightest if you end up being suspected as a traitor," All Might matter-of-factly answered. "Now, please, go to the inspection."

Melissa really didn't want to go, but considering what would happen if she stayed behind, she didn't have much choice in the matter. That, and All Might didn't seem to be in a rush to tell her about this awful truth, and pushing him while he was skeletal just seemed... mean.

"Alright, Uncle Might, I'll go. But I hope you're ready to spill every bean about it when this is over."

The man nodded and sipped his coffee as Melissa left the office.

Dang it, now she really wanted answers...


	29. Interrogation

Back with Midoriya, the boy sat on his desk at the Class 1-B classroom, right amongst his troubled classmates. Their class was going to get inspected as soon as the inspection on Class 1-A was over, but this did nothing to calm their nerves as the potential of there being a traitor among them was still present.

And in Midoriya's case, it was driving him up a wall.

"Midoriya?"

The boy lifted his head and turned to see Kendo standing nearby, looking at him with a concerned expression. "How are you holding up?"

"I want to say fine, but I'd be lying right through my teeth," Midoriya sighed, resting his chin on the desk. "Not only have I found out something terrible happened to Hatsume, but now there's the idea that one of us could be a traitor!"

Kendo brushed Midoriya's back and flashed a reassuring smile. "Everybody here is innocent until proven otherwise, Midoriya. And if there really is a traitor among us, the police will deal with them."

Midoriya gained a little smile on his face. He didn't know how she did it, but Kendo still had a way to cheer him up even in a trouble time like this.

"Now, you said something happened with Hatsume," Kendo's smile faltered. "Would it help you if you talked about it with someone?"

Midoriya lifted his head once more and thought about it. Kendo _was_ one of the most trustworthy people in Class 1-B, after all she had to keep Monoma in check constantly. And besides, the faster Midoriya talked with somebody about what happened, the better.

"Do you promise not to tell anybody?"

Kendo silently nodded.

"Alright, here's the gist of it..."

* * *

"I lost my Quirk," Hatsume sadly confessed to Mineta and Power Loader, whose eyes widened. "For real, this time."

"Wait a minute, you mean you still had your Quirk when you got the robotic eyes?" Mineta asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you had lost it as soon as your eyes were damaged!"

"I thought that too, but apparently, as long as my Quirk Factor was left unharmed, I still had it with me," Hatsume replied, scratching her head. "I just couldn't access it because I didn't have my eyes anymore, for obvious reasons."

"And now you're telling us you somehow lost your Quirk today?" Power Loader asked. "I'm sorry, Hatsume, but that's not something I can just swallow. Especially considering you said your Quirk Factor was fine, how can you have lost your Quirk if the factor was left intact?"

"Maybe, it was the result of a Quirk?" Mineta asked.

"That's just as hard to believe, Mineta," Power Loader expressed. "I know Quirks are incredibly varied, but there's no way there could be a Quirk that can steal other Quirks."

Hatsume had no comment.

"Well, we're gonna go through an inspection in a while, so make yourselves presentable," Power Loader remarked. "I'll see if I can talk with Nezu about what's going on."

The armored hero stood up and left the workshop, leaving the nervous Mineta and Hatsume alone.

"What a way to start the day, huh?" Mineta asked with a nervous, clearly forced chuckle. "Instead of staying at home or watching the sports festival, we're gonna be inspected to see if either of us is a traitor."

"I still don't get why they wouldn't postpone the sports festival," Hatsume rubbed her forehead. "I mean, I get its a popular event and they need something to distract the masses-actually, I think I just answered my own question."

Hatsume took a long, tired breath and lowered her head, and shortly after, Mineta brushed her head. "Everything's gonna be okay."

Hatsume lifted her head and smiled hopefully. "I hope so, Mineta. I hope so."

Just then, the door to the workshop opened, and from it entered a member of Class 1-B, the silver-haired Reiko Yanagi. She had her eyes closed, which caught Hatsume's attention.

"Excuse me," she spoke. "Would the owner of the workshop just so happen to still be present at this moment?"

"...What?" was all the gadgeteer could ask in response.

"I think she's asking if Power Loader's here," Mineta explained. "And the answer's no, he just left to go see Principal Nezu."

Yanagi smirked. "That's perfect."

Okay, now she was really worrying the duo.

"You, I have been given a surprise assignment, one that comes with a permanent benefit for me," the silver-haired teen explained as she walked closer to the pair. "And I'm going to need your help to do this, Hatsume."

And she was officially creeped out. "How do you know my name?!"

"You blow up the workshop every time you work there, whether you're working on a new gadget, or upgrading an old one," Yanagi curtsied. "It would be foolish of me to remain ignorant of the Gadget Queen known by the name of Mei Hatsume."

Hatsume, though flattered by the obvious ego bait, she didn't lower her guard just yet.

"Mineta, I'll take care of this."

Though shocked at this statement, Mineta nonetheless got the hint and nodded before he left. This left Hatsume alone with Yanagi, whose smile slowly gained a hint or malice as she narrowed her eyes.

"Alright, spill the beans-"

Before Hatsume could add anything else, a white aura enveloped her as she levitated by Yanagi's will. The girl herself lifted her arm as she explained:

"Let me be blunt, Hatsume. The one who gave me the assignment has a beef with you, and they're giving me the chance to "evolve", as they said, with only one condition: you have to die, and I must bring proof that I killed you."

"They want me dead?!" Hatsume snapped, trying to break free from her hold. "Who gave you this assignment!?"

Yanagi smirked as she opened her eyes, revealing her pupils resembled bullseyes. Hatsume's own eyes widened, recognizing those pupils... as her own.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

* * *

Melissa stood in a long line alongside the rest of her classmates. Detective Tsukauchi, as well as Inko and some nondescript police officers, stood in front of them, asking their names and Quirks to detect any lies. Presumably, that was only the first part of what they were going to do to identify the traitor.

Melissa was right in the middle, with Shimura and Kaminari by her sides. Off at the very last member, there stood a guy with purple messy hair and eyes that made him look like he hadn't had a good sleep since... ever.

"When I was told my first day at Class 1-A would be memorable, I don't think they meant this," he audibly complained.

Melissa frowned in sympathy, but quickly turned around when Shimura tugged her sleeve. "Are we gonna be alright, Melissa?"

"Don't worry, Tenko, we're all gonne be fine," Melissa said, patting the boy's back. "As soon as this inspection is over and the entire class comes clean, I'm sure they'll let us go."

"A-And what if they find a traitor among us?"

"The only traitor in this class was Mina, Tenko. There's no way there's another traitor," Melissa paused for a second, then shook her head. "No, there's not another traitor."

Shimure frowned. "I'm sorry if I seem pessimistic, but that doesn't calm me down at all."

"It's okay, Tenko."

"You two might want to be quiet," Kaminari whispered to the pair. "They're about to reach Yaoyorozu."

With that said, the pair nodded and kept their mouths shut as Tsukauchi and Inko reached Yaoyorozu. "Name and Quirk." the miniature woman requested.

"Momo Yaoyorozu. Creation."

Inko and Tsukauchi exchanged looks, and turned back to the girl with serious expressions, startling her a bit.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. "You don't think I'm lying, do you?"

"My Quirk lets me identify any and all possible lies, no matter how convincing; if you had lied to us, I would know," Tsukauchi answered. "However, while you're telling us the truth, we need to ask you a couple questions before we move on."

Yaoyorozu frowned. "Okay?"

"What does your Quirk do, exactly?" Inko asked.

"It lets me create non-living objects from my body using my lipids," Yaoyorozu answered, folding her arms. "Depending on the object, however, I may need to use extra lipids to seal or cover it, lest I damage my internal organs."

Melissa and Shimure winced at the statement. They were a bit curious, but they weren't in the mood to figure out how did Yaoyorozu come to that conclusion.

"Can you create weapons?" the small detective asked next.

"I can, but again, depending on the weapon, I may need to use extra lipids to cover it, or even just to create its ammunition."

"Could you give us a demonstration with, let's say, a bullet?"

Yaoyorozu blushed as she lifted her shirt and created a small silver bullet, which she showed to the detectives before Tsukauchi grabbed it.

"Is a bullet something you just recently started creating?"

Yaoyorozu shook her head. "It was one of the first things I learned how to create out of memory, alongside a gun."

Melissa and Shimura's eyes widened. Bullets and guns were the first thing Yaoyorozu learned to create?! And she wasn't even denying it?! Sure, it wouldn't have helped, but she could at least show some hesitation about it!

With how she was carrying herself, it was almost as if she had no issue with it at all.

Even if she wasn't the traitor, and this was just a disturbing coincidence, the duo-and Class 1-A as a whole-were now curious about Yaoyorozu's family situation.

"Can you show us?"

Yaoyorozu repeated her previous motion, only this time she created a pistol. "Does this answer your question?"

Inko grabbed the gun, inserted the bullet, then aimed it at a ball she took out and threw through the window. The resulting *BANG!* and hit of the object made it far too clear the object was the real deal.

"This is a real gun, no doubt about it," Inko turned back to Yaoyorozu. "You didn't even think of making a toy gun? I mean, didn't you say that was the first thing you were taught how to create?"

Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I clearly said the first thing I learned how to create were bullets and guns."

"I thought you meant toy ones!"

Yaoyorozu shook her head. "Real ones."

Melissa and Shimura exchanged looks of disbelief. Was Yaoyorozu _trying_ to make herself look like the traitor? Even if she had been conditioned to think this was normal, there's no way she'd be this innocent and naive about it!

...Right?

"Okay, Yaoyorozu, that's all," Inko said, saving the gun in her pocket. "We're gonna need interrogate you after this inspection is over, so please stay around for a while afterwards, okay?"

Yaoyorozu twiddled her fingers. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, sweetie, we just want to clarify a couple things," Inko replied in a motherly tone.

Speaking of trouble, something that just occurred to her put her in a bit of a bind. Detective Tsukauchi was asking the students for both their name and their Quirk names. Now, this wouldn't be so bad... if One for All wasn't supposed to be a big secret.

Sure, Inko knew about it, but even if her detective partner was in the known as well, the same couldn't be said for the cops, or the rest of Class 1-A. Even so, Tsukauchi made it clear lying wouldn't get her anywhere, so she had to think of something, and quick.

"Name and Quirk."

Melissa flinched, snapping back to reality to see Inko and Detective Tsukauchi staring at her. Inko did so with a reassuring glance, while the detective's expression was far too neutral to pinpoint. Nevertheless, Melissa got an idea, and regained her composure before saying:

"Melissa Shield. Superwoman."

Crap! She meant to say Super Power!

"She's telling the truth," Detective Tsukauchi stated. "And don't worry if you don't like the name: since you were such a late bloomer, or so I've been told, it's okay if the name you picked for your Quirk isn't well-thought out."

Melissa raised an eyebrow. Somebody told him that she was a late bloomer... was he talking about All Might? Or did Inko give her a break and made up a cover story for her Quirk?

Regardless, she was grateful as the duo went to Shimura.

"Name and Quirk,"

"T-T-Tenko Shimura. D-Decay."

"Ah, so you're the Tenko Shimura that All Might saved one day," Tsukauchi scratched his chin. "You're worried about the potential of another traitor being in your ranks, aren't you?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Well, don't worry son, we'll find that traitor and give them a piece of our mind."

With a pat on the back, Detective Tsukauchi and Inko continued

* * *

"I see, so that's what happened," Kendo frowned. "Sounds rough."

"You have my condolences."

In that moment, Midoriya and Kendo turned back to see Shiozaki behind them, clasping her hands in prayer with a little smile. She also seemed rather... refreshed, or something. She definitely didn't seem to be as nervous as they'd expect her to be after what happened at the sports festival.

"Oh, hi Shiozaki, I didn't know you were there," Midoriya remarked. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not going to lie, once I woke up at the hospital, I felt terrible for what I had done, even if the person I attacked had it coming," Shiozaki raised her head and smiled wider. "But then, I met a pair of wonderful people who agreed to help me control the berserker inside of me, and after an evening with them, I have hope that I'll be able to control myself when my anger surfaces again."

Midoriya wasn't sure if hearing someone like Shiozaki claim there was a "berserker" inside of her was funny or disturbing. It was most certainly curious, though.

"How much did you hear about Midoriya's story?" Kendo asked, returning the guy to reality.

"All of it," Shiozaki confessed. "And I have to say, while I don't know Hatsume personally, I feel sorry for her. To think there would be someone so terrible as to take away her Quirk without her consent..."

"Wait, you think somebody took it?" Midoriya shrugged. "I thought she lost her Quirk because she was convinced she was functionally Quirkless."

"Don't be ridiculous, Midoriya," Monoma remarked, approaching the exasperated trio. "It's one thing to think yourself as functionally Quirkless, it's another for the Quirk to just up and vanish like that."

"Do you even know what we're talking about, Monoma?" Kendo asked sternly.

"The fact that Midoriya's girlfriend suddenly lost her Quirk, despite her Quirk Factor being left undamaged," Monoma matter-of-factly explained, making Midoriya blush. "You weren't exactly whispering, you know?"

"Well, what do you want?" Shiozaki raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea of how this could've happened?"

"I'm with your opinion in that someone must've taken away her Quirk away somehow," Monoma scratched his chin in thought. "What I can't wrap my head around is the fact they somehow knew where she lived, and when was the right time to strike."

"She actually stayed over at my house over the night," Midoriya hesitantly confessed. "I think we had a party or something to celebrate the fact she won the sports festival-"

"That only implies whoever did it knew where _you_ lived, Midoriya," Kendo pointed out, lowering her eyelids. "And if they knew where you lived-"

"Okay, students, time to begin your inspection," Detective Tsukauchi said as he entered the room. "Please form a single line outside."

"We'll talk about this later."

The teenagers left the classroom and made a line. Midoriya and Kendo were first.

"Name and Quirk."

"Izuku Midoriya. Swan Dive."

"He's telling the truth."

The detective wasted no time and headed for the next student.

"Name and Quirk."

"Itsuka Kendo. Big Fist."

"She's also telling the truth."

Once again the detectives went to the next students, and so on and so forth. As they did this, Midoriya took a deep breath and clutched his chest.

"See, Midoriya?" Kendo whispered to the nervous swan knight. "There's nothing to worry about."

"Maybe," Midoriya looked at the rest of his classmates with concerned eyes. "But I feel something's gonna go wrong any minute now."

"Name and Quirk."

"Ibara Shiozaki. Vines."

Inko and Detective Tsukauchi exchanged looks, and this was enough to get Midoriya's attention as well, who eyed the scene along with Kendo, both having concerned looks on their faces.

"What?"

"While you're being honest about your name, you're lying about your Quirk's name," Tsukauchi stated, tipping his hat. "How about you give us its real name?"

Shiozaki lowered her head and thought about it for a moment before she bitterly answered, "Dryad."

"That's true," Tsukauchi nodded. "Sorry if your Quirk's true name upsets you, but we needed you to be completley honest."

"I understand," Shiozaki answered, clenching her fists. "You're only trying to help us avoid another Mina from hurting us all."

Their conversation done, the detectives went to the next student, leaving a fuming Shiozaki behind. Luckily, she calmed down soon after... because something about Yui caught her attention.

She was making some weird gesture with her hand, as if she was calling for something to come towards her. And the more she did those gestures, the more a small object headed straight for her hand.

A pen. One with a sharpened end.

Seeing this, Shiozaki planted her hair on the ground, and spread it until it landed behind Yui, hidden underneath the ground so the detectives wouldn't notice.

And seeing _that_, Kendo and Midoriya kept a close eye on Shiozaki, while also turning to see Monoma's turn next.

"Name and Quirk."

"Neito Monoma. Copy."

Inko raised an eyebrow. "So, going by your Quirk's name alone, it allows you to copy Quirks?"

"Well, yes, as long as I have physical contact with someone, I can copy their Quirk," Monoma explained, with Yui nearby rolling her eyes. "This only applies to transformation and emitters, though. I can't copy mutant Quirks, and the copy only lasts for five minutes."

"Suspicious." Yui uttered.

"While I have to agree that it's a bit suspicious, he's telling the truth," Detective Tsukauchi turned to the horse-like girl right next to Monoma. "So, let's go with the girl next to you. Name and Quirk-"

"Pony Tsunotori! Horn Cannon!"

"She's... telling the truth," the detective answered, slightly startled by the girl's exhuberant energy. Then, he leaned closer to her ear and whispered, "Keep it down a little, will you? Just keep an eye on the other students like you were instructed to do."

Whispering in a stern tone, Pony replied, "You do your job, and I'll do mine, alright?"

Monoma frowned at the exchange, and after the duo separate, the detectives finally reached Yui, whose expression remained neutral as the detective said:

"Name and Quirk."

"Yui Kodai. Size."

The detective squinted his eyes as he took a closer look at the raven-haired girl, which only made Midoriya, Kendo, and especially Shiozaki nervous as to what would happen next. After a few seconds of squinting, the detective came to a conclusion:

"While you're being honest about your name and your Quirk, I feel like you're hiding something from us," Tsukauchi leaned back and folded his arms. "Tell me, would you happen to have another Quirk in your disposal? Kinda like with Monoma's alleged Copy Quirk?"

"Alleged?" Monoma asked, seemingly offended.

Yui shook her head. "Detective, with all due respect, how dumb are you? Nobody is capable of having more than one Quirk, unless your Quirk allows you to store multiple ones, like Monoma's alleged Copy Quirk. If you're really going to suggest I have more than one Quirk within me, at least come up with some proof first."

"Yui never talks this much, nore this disrespectfully," Kendo remarked, her eyes widening at the statement. "Something feels wrong."

Midoriya and Shiozaki exchanged a look and nod, the latter getting ready to use her vines as soon as Yui made a wrong move.

"Even still, you're hiding something, and if you're not going to tell us what it is, I'm gonna need you to come with me for a moment."

Yui broke free from the detective's grasp as soon as he grabbed her arm.

"And I'm gonna need you to bugger off!"

Yui revealed the sharpened pen behind her and raised it straight for Tsukauchi's gut... only for some vines to grab her arm and keep it in place. She turned back to the earlier students at the line, and saw Shiozaki sternly glaring at her as she disconnected her hair from the floor, keeping the vines in place.

Sadly, this also made them weak enough for Yui to rip them apart and escape, throwing the pen to the ground and activating her Quirk to turn it big enough to block off the hallway as she ran away.

This, however, meant nothing when Kendo ran past the detectives, made her fist giant, and punched the pen in half with it.

"Come on, don't just stand there!" Kendo yelled at the students and detectives. "We need to catch Yui before she escapes!"

"You heard the class president!" Monoma exclaimed, running to Kendo's side. "We need to get a move on!"

Midoriya nodded and he, along with the rest of Class 1-B and the detectives, chased after the fleeing Yui as Kendo snapped at the top of her lungs:

"You're not getting away, Kodai!"


	30. The Return

Back where we left off, Kendo lead the chase after Yui, who was throwing random stuff at the ground and using her Quirk to make them big, something that meant absolutely nothing when Kendo enlarged her fist and threw a punch every time.

"Get back here, Kodai!" Kendo yelled. "I want an explanation, and I want it right now!"

"Geez, Kendo's scary when she's mad," Midoriya remarked.

"Mad? Nah, she's currently upset," Monoma debunked. "Trust me, if she was mad, you'd think she was being possessed by a demon or something."

"Monoma! Shut the hell up and find a way to restrain her!" Kendo snapped at the guy.

The copycat wasted on time scanning his classmates for any potential. Outside of Shiozaki, whose Quirk was a type he couldn't copy anyway, he couldn't think of anything... until he looked at Midoriya.

"Midoriya, can you use your Quirk to speed up?!"

"I've never really tried it, but it could be worth a shot!" Midoriya replied before extending his hand forward. "But first, I think two swan knights would be better than one!"

Monoma nodded and smiled before he shook hands with Midoriya, copying his Quirk in the process. Then, the guys crouched down and did the first thing they could think of: they channeled Midoriya's Quirk on their feet.

Not only did it work, giving them small swan wings on the sides of their legs, but it allowed them to zip right past Yui and block her route, stunning her long enough to allow Kendo to snatch the teenager with her enlarged hand.

"I didn't think that would work!" Midoriya said as he shared a high-five with the copycat.

"L-Let me go, Kendo!" Yui demanded as she tried to break free from the giant hand's hold. "I got a pair of Quirks at my disposal and I'm not afraid to use them!"

"Quirks? Plural?" Inko asked out loud.

At this statement, Yui flinched and smacked herself in her forehead. "Me and my big mouth."

"Explain yourself, Kodai!" Kendo demanded as she turned her hand over to face the girl. "What were you thinking trying to stab the detective with a pen?! How did you even get one in the first place!?"

"As if I'd ever tell you what I did," Yui scoffed.

"I saw her making odd gestures with her hand moments before the attack," Shiozaki explained, getting everyone's attention. "The more she made those weird gestures, the more a sharpened pen levitated towards her hand."

"Which is exactly how my Quirk works..." Inko blurted.

Everyone's attention soon turned to Yui, who looked away with a stern expression.

"So, not only do you have two Quirks, but one of them happens to be similar to my Mom's..." Midoriya walked towards the captured teenager and folded his arms. "Were you the one who broke into my house and stole Hatsume's Quirk?!"

"Yes, I, the girl whose base Quirk only allows to her grow or shrink non-living things, somehow broke into your house and stole not only stole the Quirk of this "Hatsume" you're talking about, but your mother's Quirk as well," Yui dryly answered. "I mean come on, Midoriya, I know you're angry, but isn't there some space for common sense in your anger?"

"As much as I hate to say this, Yui has a point," Kendo remarked. "Besides the fact her Quirk can't take other Quirks, she doesn't even know where you live."

"Well, even if she can't take other Quirks, and even if she doesn't know where I live, she still has my mother's Quirk somehow," Midoriya turned back to Yui and leaned closer. "So, if she can't take Quirks..."

Yui raised an eyebrow at Midoriya's pause.

"There's the chance someone _gave_ it to her."

Now seeing where the boy was going, Yui smirked, angering the boy as he asked next:

"Who did it?"

"My lips are sealed," Yui bluntly responded. "I can't make the gesture, but my lips are sealed."

"There has to be a way to make you talk," Monoma said.

"Well, if I was being pressed, like, say, being squished by a pair of gigantic hands, maybe I would spill a thing or two," Yui turned back to Kendo with a slight smile. "But I know you're not gonna do it. You're training to be heroes, you wouldn't go down the Endeavor route and be the bad cop, would you?"

"We'll take responsibility for whatever happens," Inko stated, Detective Tsukauchi nodding in agreement.

"Kendo won't do it regardless," Yui stated matter-of-factly. "We're best friends, and she would never hurt me. Right, Kendo?"

Everybody turned to the redhead, whose hold of the teenager loosened as she took a deep breath and answered, "Yui's right, I wouldn't hurt her."

Yui smirked, but just as she did, Kendo turned to Monoma and requested:

"So, with that in mind; Monoma, copy my Quirk and take over for me."

"I'm not it."

"W-Wait," Yui stammered, her smirk turning into a grimace as Monoma walked to Kendo's hand and touched it, copying her Quirk. "Y-You're not seriously planning to let him hurt me, right? You're kidding, right?!"

"Yui, it's true that I would never hurt you," Kendo said, slowly shrinking her hands back to normal as Monoma did the opposite. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to

With his enlarged hand, Monoma grabbed Yui, who peeked out and shook her head. "You can't be serious!"

"The situation is serious, Kodai," Kendo responded, Yui flinching at the use of her last name. "If there's somebody out there giving and taking Quirks as they please, and turning people like you into their pawns, then we need to get as much information as possible!"

Yui narrowed her eyes, slamming her hand on Monoma's finger. "No, I insist, you _have_ to be bluffing!"

Kendo turned to Monoma, who gave her a look saying he was ready whenever she was ready. Then she turned to the detectives, who told eyed her to be careful, then Midoriya, who did the same, and the rest of her class, who were looking away in preparation.

However, upon seeing her classmates, she noticed Tsunotori was talking with someone on her phone. Well, she'd reprimand her for that later.

"Monoma, press her a little."

Monoma obliged, and he squeezed as lightly as he could, causing Yui to groan in pain as she tried to free herself. However, once he stopped, Yui simply laughed.

"Okay, Kendo, you had your fun, now get me outta here."

Kendo narrowed her eyes. "Squeeze harder."

With slight hesitation, Monoma obliged, and this time, Yui spilled the beans.

"Okay, I get it, you're being serious, so I'll talk! Yanagi and I met a masked girl on the way here, and she gave us the Quirks with the condition that we do something for her!"

"And why did you accept the deal?" Inko sternly asked.

"As soon as we got the Quirks, we felt a rush of... something," Yui answered, scratching her head. "As if we had evolved into something more than human, yet still human... does that make sense?"

Inko pause and calmly shook her head.

"What did she even tell you to do?" Detective Tsukauchi asked next.

"Well, in my case, she asked me to deal with "the detective that can see through lies", so I think she wanted me to kill you," Yui answered, lowering her head in shame. "And thanks to the rush I was feeling, I didn't even think about it twice!"

"What do you think, Tsukauchi?" Inko asked.

"Everything she's said up to this point has been the truth," Tsukauchi answered, not removing his line of sight from the girl. "However, there's one other thing I want to ask."

"It's about Yanagi, I presume," Midoriya pointed out, folding his arms. "You said this masked girl gave you and her Quirks, and a mission in exchange for keeping them. What did she ask Yanagi to do?"

"I want to tell you, I really do, and not just because I fear my internal organs are gonna spill if I'm squeezed again," Yui answered, then paused before she shook her head and turned to the swan knight. "But I can't risk you flying into a rage and going after Yanagi too."

Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"She means, Izuku," Inko said, walking towards her son. "That unless you keep your anger under control, she doesn't feel comfortable sharing that information."

"Keep my anger under control? I'm perfectly fine!" the boy snapped back. "Besides, she got your Quirk, can you blame me for being angry?"

"Izuku, when someone uses their Quirk to hurt someone, the one responsible isn't the Quirk, but the person," Inko answered back. "Kodai here is nothing more than a pawn to the masked Quirk giver, just as Kendo described her. If you want to be angry with someone, be angry with the girl who actually stole my Quirk."

Midoriya wanted to snap in that moment, but once he thought about it, he understood the situation was one where certain compromises had to be made. As much as he wanted to blow up if Yanagi had been ordered to kill one of his friends, he came to understand the one responsible was not Yanagi, but the person who gave her the Quirk and the mission.

He had to keep his anger under control, just this once...

Oh god, he was starting to turn into Bakugou!

"Fine, I'll stay calm," Midoriya took a deep breath and turned back to Yui. "Now, what was Yanagi tasked to do?"

"She was given the same mission as me: kill someone in order to keep the Quirk," Yui answered, and Midoriya already wanted to blow a fuse. "However, she wasn't told to kill a police officer or a pro-hero working here, or anybody like that."

With slight hesitation, Yui eventually finished:

"She was asked to kill a student."

* * *

Hatsume was thrown across the workshop, snapping some tables in half and making the gadgets on top of them hit the ground loudly, until the pink-haired gadgeteer hit a wall and slid to the ground.

And as she stood up, Yanagi slowly walked towards her, holding a smug smile on her face.

"Those eyes..." Hatsume remarked, clutching her chest. "I had those same eyes before Stain blinded me... how did you get them?"

"You said it yourself," Yanagi replied with a shrug. "You had these same eyes before Stain blinded you... before you lost your Quirk..."

Hatsume, upon connecting the dots, narrowed her eye and raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who stole my Quirk?!

Yanagi focused her eyesight and used her other Quirk to raise some gadgets behind Hatsume.

"I'm the one who got your Quirk, yes, but not the one who took it!"

Yanagi reeled her arm back and the gadgets followed her motion, with Hatsume ducking just in time to dodge them. The gadgets kept levitating towards Yanagi until she clenched her fists, stopping them inches away from her, before she threw a punch, sending them right back at Hatsume, who jumped out of the way.

"So it's true," Hatsume grimaced. "There really is a Quirk that can steal other Quirks!"

"You surprise me, Hatsume; you're more observant than the girl with the mask said you were," Yanagi narrowed her eyes. "Guess I'll have to update her on that once I'm done with you."

Hatsume raised an eyebrow, but before she could wonder what the girl was talking about, Yanagi used her Quirk to lift the gadgets around Hatsume and shot them right at her, the girl dodging them before she began running away.

Yanagi chased after her, levitating and throwing gadgets all over the place in hopes one of them would hit Hatsume. Even if they didn't kill her, as long as they stunned her or hurt her long enough to make the killing blow a breeze, she considered that a success.

Hatsume scanned her surroundings for anything she could use, but everything she found was either incomplete, or currently being used as a projectile by Yanagi.

Once she managed to find a gadget she could use, a gauntlet that generated an energy sword when a button was pushed, she swung it around to slice the incoming gadgets in half.

"You really should be more careful with those gadgets, you know? They're expensive to make!"

"Says the girl throwing them at me!"

Eventually, Hatsume began backing away as Yanagi approached her, throwing more and more gadgets at her until she tripped, but without hitting the ground. This was because Yanagi grabbed her and lifted her, with the gadgets dropping to the ground and shattering to pieces.

"Why are you doing this?!" Hatsume snapped, trying to break free. "What do you gain from killing me?!"

"A permanent upgrade to my effectiveness," Yanagi answered with a shrug. "You see, before today, I had to deal with the fact I could only lift things that I could see near me. If there was something I could use, but it was nowhere I could see it, I'd just have to deal with whatever I had near me. And I didn't always have something I could use."

Yanagi seamlessly removed the gadget from Hatsume's hand, making sure to not turn off the energy sword as she continued:

"But now, with your Quirk, I can look at usable objects from afar! And not only can I look at things from afar, but it also enhances the radius of my Quirk! With this combination, my effectiveness as a pro-hero is bound to skyrocket. Sure, I will have to train extra hard in order to make sure I can use both Quirks effectively, but it's a small price to pay!"

Yanagi moved the energy sword until its blade was inches away from Hatsume's neck.

"Now, any last words, Mei Hatsume?"

The gadgeteer looked at her side, and she smiled. "You know, Yanagi? I feel sorry for you."

Yanagi raised an eyebrow. "What are you pulling now, Hatsume?"

"I mean, you think my Quirk's so awesome because it works fairly well with your own, but you don't seem to realize on big flaw in it," Hatsume smirked. "It forces me to ignore the world around me!"

Just as Yanagi pondered what this meant, the underside of a pair of boots hit her in the back of the head, knocking her out and freeing the girl, who turned off the energy blade before they fell.

The one responsible for the undersides soon appeared, revealing himself to be Mineta, who ran up to the pink-haired gadgeteer and hugged her. "Senior!"

"Thanks for the help, Mineta!" Hatsume replied, patting the boy's back. "Did you manage to find Power Loader?"

"No, but I did find someone who told me where he was," Mineta replied. "He's apparently heading to the top of the building in order to deal with something with the other pro-heroes."

"They're gonna have their work cut out for them, then."

The gadgeteer duo turned around and saw Yanagi slowly stand up, blood running down her face as she flashed an audacious grin. This, however, wasn't enough to scare the duo, who asked in unison:

"What are you talking about?"

* * *

As Melissa and her classmates-except Yaoyorozu, who had been taken elsewhere-were getting ready to head back home to let the lockdown do its work, she couldn't help but overhear Iida talking with someone on his phone.

"Mhm... Mhm... I see, then the situation is far more dire than we expected," "Try to evacuate Class 1-B as soon

"Iida, what's going on?"

The blue-haired boy stopped on his tracks and slowly turned around. Once he did, he found the rest of Class 1-A, Melissa in particular, looking at him with concerned expressions.

"I was talking out loud, wasn't I?" he asked as he pocketed his phone. "It's nothing we have to worry about. Let's continue heading back home-"

"Sorry, Iida, but I'm afraid we can't do that," Melissa stated sternly, folding her arms. "You said the situation was getting dire, and you told whoever you were speaking with to evacuate Class 1-B."

"If I said those things, it's for a good reason, Shield," Iida answered, Melissa flinching at the mention of her last name. "Whatever's going on during this lockdown, it's not something we can help with. The most we can do is leave the area and let the police take care of this."

"Oh, so the _police_ are going to take care of this?" Melissa sternly repeated. "Like how they took care of that giant villain that caused delays in train schedules?"

"M-Melissa-" Tenko stammered.

"Or how they took care of Stain when he decided to attack U.A.?"

"Dude, we know you're angry, but-" Kirishima said.

"Or how they took care of waiting until my father had already created an abomination of a gadget that gave them enough reason to arrest him!"

"Shield!"

"WHAT!?"

Melissa's eyes went blank as everybody turned to the source of both the voice, and the bells they were hearing right now. It was Shinsou, who walked up to the girl and prepared to snap his fingers.

"When I snap my fingers, you will calm down, and think about what you're doing before you rush off and do something stupid!"

As soon as he snapped his fingers, Melissa broke out of her trance state and turned to the guy responsible. "Did... did you just brainwash me or something?"

"You were getting really angry, and I feared that if nobody did anything, you'd end up blowing a hole through the wall or something," Shinsou answered with honesty. "Now that you're calm, please, think about the situation before you run off. Is it really the best idea to run headfirst into whatever's going on?"

"Yeah, the new guy's got a point, Melissa," Kaminari remarked, walking to the brainwasher's side. "As far as anybody knows, the police and heroes could be taking care of this as we speak!"

"Hmm... now that you mention it, I haven't seen Eraserhead or any of the other teachers," Melissa scratched her chin. "Where could they be?"

"Perhaps they're with the police, heading to the top of the building?" Iida suggested. "It would make sense for them to see what's going on."

Melissa turned to the bespectacled bluehead and narrowed her eyes. "Did your contact tell you about that?"

Iida flinched, and he adjusted his glasses. "Well, no, but-"

"Iida, stop it," Melissa stated sternly. "Something weird is going on, if not in U.A., then with you. If you're hiding something that could help us be calm or help at all in this lockdown, I suggest you spill the beans already."

The guy paused, and promptly lifted his head as he stated:

"Alright then, I will explain to the best of my ability."

* * *

"We should be reaching the top of U.A. soon enough," Nezu remarked as he lead the way. "Once there, I want all police officers to surround the area and load your weapons, just in case things get hefty. As for the pro-heroes, I want you to subdue whoever's invading U.A. right now, understood?"

"Yes, sir!" all the cops and pro-heroes answered in return... except All Might and Eraserhead.

"What a drag," Eraserhead sighed. "Just when it seems I can go back home and sleep some more, an intruder manages to get through the lockdown."

"Which I still don't understand," All Might remarked. "The only way they'd be able to get through the lockdown Nezu and I requested was if they could teleport, but those kinds of Quirks are extremely rare."

"You and Principal Nezu ordered the lockdown?" Midnight asked with confusion. "I mean, I can get Nezu, but why you?"

"I just feel it's for the best we fortify the defenses before another attack happens," All Might narrowed his eyes. "Also just in case something like this happened, in which case..."

All Might assumed his buff form.

"We can go all out against the intruder without endangering the young students!"

Midnight frowned, but decided to keep her concerns to herself as everybody reached the top of U.A. Above them was a crystal dome surrounding the building, probably the result of a Quirk, and the police officers surrounded the area as the pro-heroes searched for any sign of the intruder.

"Well, look who we have here..."

The pro-heroes looked up, and they saw a black mist portal opening in the sky. From the portal, a small figure jumped out and landed right on the ground, with the portal flying down to her side soon after, and morphing into a humanoid shape.

As for the small figure, she had a black bodysuit with red patterns resembling blood, a white mask with the kanji for "Exchange" in it, and very light pink hair, almost looking white as snow. Her left arm had the opera glove-like gadget shown in Mina's introduction to the doctor and his boss, making it quite clear who she was.

"It's good to see all of you again. Midnight, Eraserhead..."

The figure stood up and shot a look at the number one hero.

"And All Might too."

The number one hero's eyes widened.

"Young Ashido... That arm..."

Mina raised her left and looked at it. "Pretty neat, huh? I got it as a gift from a friend after they helped me recover from my injuries."

"Goddammit, so the beating you took in the sports festival wasn't enough to get you off our hair!?" Present Mic snapped, desperately holding back the desire to use his Quirk. "What do we need to do in order to make you stop messing with us!?"

"You'd need to do something that no hero, not even All Might himself, would be willing to do," Mina smirked as the portal humanoid began opening itself wide. "So, instead of bothering to explain my weakness to you, I think I'm gonna let my friends here have some fun with you."

Before the pro-heroes could wonder what the girl was talking about, a group of horrific, mutant creatures came out of the wide portal and rushed at the pro-heroes, who got ready to fight just as All Might threw a weak punch, causing a gust of wind hard enough to send the monsters flying back.

Mina was unaffected thought, and she soon responded by tackling the number one hero and taking the fight to the skies with him, clashing fists with him.

"You don't know how much I've been waiting to do this!"


	31. Ashido Attacks

Several gusts of winds were sent as All Might and Mina constantly clashed fists. Some of the gusts of winds affected the monsters, while others affected the police officers and the pro-heroes.

"What's wrong, All Might?!" Mina asked with a sadistic tone. "Is the number one hero unwilling to get his hands dirty!?"

The pro-heroes and police were still baffled as to how could All Might be holding back a lot and still be causing gusts of wind with each punch. Nevertheless, they had other things to think about, like for example the monster they were currently fighting.

"Mina Ashido, I will remind you that the purpose of your mission is to test your breathen with the pro-heroes," the sentient portal pointed out sternly. "Once this task has been completed, we're to leave, understood? Don't mess around with that fight."

"I'm not the one lacking the conviction to go all out! Isn't that right, All Might?!" Mina replied, dodging the man's punches. "Perhaps I need to give you some motivation!"

"Mina Ashido, stop! Don't endanger your own life angering All Might! He's vastly stronger than you could ever hope to be!"

"Hmph, what's the point of nigh-omnipotence if the user won't give it their all?"

Mina dodged another punch, and she wrapped her arms around All Might's muscular arm as she spoke:

"Let me be clear with you, Fraud Might: if you don't go all out and make sure I'm dead or something, then those who study under you will be made to suffer! In fact, I can already think of a few particular students I'd like to torture; wanna hear who they are?"

All Might flashed a furious glare. "Don't anger me, Young Ashido."

"There's the weird teen you adopted so long ago, there's also that guy with the glasses that moves like a robot," though her mask hid her expression, it was clear as day that Mina was grinning sadistically. "And I'm also quite curious as to how much effort I'll need to break one particular girl. What was her name? Oh, right... Melissa Shield!"

* * *

A chill went down Melissa's spine as she turned around and began scanning her surroundings. This quickly caught the concerned attention of his classmates, except Bakugou, who looked confused.

"Superglasses, is something wrong?" Iida asked..

"Nothing, It's nothing. Now, back to The nonsense you just told me," Melissa folded her arms. "You mean to tell me that you, and a student in Class 1-B, are actually agents of the Hero Public Safety Commission, who were sent here in order to keep an eye out for potential traitors or upcoming villains among the hero students, which is something the commission does every year?"

Iida paused, then nodded.

"And why are you so willing to share this information with me?"

"Because you asked," Iida honestly answered. "That, and considering that one traitor has already been found in Mina Ashido, and we're working to find another one, I figured you would ask what was going on sooner or later."

"You're probably gonna get quite a scolding for telling us all of this, though, right?" Kirishima asked, scratching his cheek.

"Perhaps, but the commission had plans to reveal this information to you anyway, so I don't think it'll be that bad," Iida adjusted his glasses. "Anyhow, that's not important right now-"

Suddenly,, the entire building shook.

"What's going on now?!" Kaminari growled.

"Something must be happening upstairs that's causing quite the volatile reaction in here," Iida answered. "Which is more reason for us to evacuate!"

With that said, Iida lead the teenagers towards the exit while Melissa looked back at the road leading upstairs. She felt compelled to go there, like really compelled, but alas, she admitted that she probably wouldn't make a difference with All Might and the teachers taking care of things.

She just hoped All Might was okay...

* * *

Speaking of All Might, the man caught his breath with his fist extended in front of him, Mina laying on the ground with the front of her face hidden, while the monsters the teachers were fighting were suspended in the air, the black mist quickly spreading across and catching them all before teleporting them away. As for All Might's fellow teachers, they managed to stay on the ground, but just barely.

"Goddammit, All Might, watch your strength!" Eraserhead snapped. "You nearly blew us away with that punch!"

"That's more like it..."

Everybody turned around to see Mina slowly stand up from the crater that emerged from her crash, pieces of her mask falling down followed by bits of blue blood. She followed this by turning around and shooting a demented grin at All Might, revealing that the right side of her face had been distorted into a grotesque mass of barely-healed tissue, a sight that All Might couldn't help but notice resembled an old foe of his...

"That's more like it!"

In the blink of an eye, the grotesque tissue was healed, stunning all the heroes.

"But it's not enough! Kurogiri!"

The black mass swallowed Mina, and the girl emerged out of a portal right in front of All Might, the man reacting quickly enough to throw another punch at Mina who ducked back. The portal, however, remained, and another portal opened right on the left side of his body, where his fist wound up connecting.

The resulting force of the hit not only made All Might spit out blood, but also reverted him back to his true, weakened form, which made him too weak to resist as Mina emerged from the portal again and grabbed him by the throat.

"For the Symbol of Peace and Justice, you really should be more careful!" Mina cackled. "Even with the power held by Give and Take, there was no way I could do anything to you, so I simply made you knock _yourself_ out!"

"Give... and... Take?" All Might weakly asked. "What are you talking about?"

Mina's eyes widened. "This gauntlet thing I got for a left arm, you... you don't recognize it?"

"I've never seen that thing before..."

"But the doctor... the doctor and his boss said you did... why would they lie to me?" Mina looked contemplative for a second before she grabbed All Might's bleeding side with her normal hand. "No matter, you won't be alive to find out more about it!"

Mina began using her Quirk... or at least she tried: nothing came out of her hand. Then she looked around and saw Eraserhead glaring at her, his eyes glowing red.

"Nice going, Mister Aizawa," Mina smirked. "Well, if I can't use Acid, I'll just have to kill All Might the old fashioned way!"

Mina began gripping All Might's side, causing the man to scream in pain.

* * *

Once again, Melissa felt a strange feeling that made her stop and turn around. However, this time, she charged her legs with a small percentage of One for All and bolted out of the hallway, the rest of Class 1-A trying to keep their balance from the resulting gust of wind.

"Great, she's rushing into things again," Bakugou sighed. "Glasses, lead the rest of the extras out of here! I'll go see what's up with Super Glasses!"

"With all due respect-"

"Get a move on, Glasses!"

With that said, Bakugou chased after the bolting Melissa, and Iida took a deep breath and turned back to the rest of his classmates.

"Everybody, to the exit!"

* * *

A golden blur flew past the students of Class 1-B and the detectives, with only Midoriya catching a glimpse as to who the bolt was.

"Great, looks like Iida failed to keep one of his classmates in check," Pony growled.

"That definitely was Melissa just now," Midoriya remarked. "But where could she be heading?"

"The rooftop..."

Everybody turned to Yui, who flinched and scanned her surroundings before she shrank down a little.

"Yui, do you know where she could be heading?" Monoma asked.

"...T-The masked girl said she'd be attacking the teachers st the top of the school. The attack's probably happening right now-"

Kendo narrowed her eyes. "Lead us there!"

* * *

Back with All Might and Mina, the latter kept gripping the former's side moments before Present Mic unleashed a titanic howl of "YEEEEEAAAAAAAH!" at the sky, Mina only resisting for a couple seconds before she was forced to throw the number one hero away and cover her eyes.

Once that was done, the heroes reached to grab All Might, but a bolt of golden energy caught him first, the bolt landing on the ground to reveal herself as Melissa Shield, carrying All Might in a bridal carry.

"Young... Melissa?" All Might weakly asked.

"Yes, Uncle Might, it's me," the girl stood up "Are you okay?"

All Might formed a little smile. "A little better... now that you're here."

"Melissa!"

Midoriya entered the area with Monoma, Kendo, Shiozaki, and Pony by his side. His entrance caught the attention of everyone, especially Mina, who looked dumbfounded at him before flashing a knowing grin, angering him.

"Ashido!" he snapped.

"It's nice to see you too, Midoriya," Mina folded her arms. "And you seem to have brought some friends, like Monoma, Kendo, Yui..."

The pink girl hesitated and flew slightly back once she noticed the next student. "Shiozaki..."

The vine-haired girl inserted her vines on her arm and got ready to use them, all while glaring at the floating acidic girl. Her attention, however, was caught by something else: the sound of Monoma's hand shrinking and Yui falling to the ground, freed from her enlarged imprisonment.

"Oh no, come on!" Monoma complained, trying to use Kendo's Quirk again. "It can't have been five minutes already!"

"Monoma, quick! Copy my Quirk before Yui runs away!"

Before Yui could run far, though, the a trio of lights burst from the ground in front of her, causing her to fall on her butt. The lights soon stopped once they were several feet in the air, revealing themselves to be Mineta and Hatsume-with their branded boots-uppercutting a Yanagi before they separated.

Yanagi hit the ground face-first, while Mineta and Hatsume managed to land safely on the ground.

"Hi everybody!" Hatsume chirped. "What did we miss?!"

"Oh great, they're here too," Power Loader grimaced.

"What are you all doing here?!" Vlad King snapped. "Evacuate the premises, right now!"

"The other courses and most of our classmates have already evacuated, Vlad King," Kendo replied. "But some of us, including me, needed to stay here to see how did Yui and Yanagi get their additional Quirks!"

Vlad King's eyes widened. "Kodai and Yanagi had secondary Quirks?! How?!"

Eraserhead looked up at Mina. "I think I may have an idea how."

"And your guess would be correct," Mina smirked. "I have to admit, I expected them to show a little resistance to it. You know, try and prove that they were better than this. But alas, they proved themselves to be nothing more than fakers in the end."

Mina eyed Yui. "And speaking of fakers..."

The raven-haired girl flinched and tried to run away, only for Kurogiri to appear in front of her and teleport her right to Mina, who grabbed her neck and lifted her off the ground.

"What did I tell you about betraying me, Kodai?"

"They were going to crush my insides if I didn't comply!" Yui exclaimed. "Please, you have to understand-!"

"I _perfectly_ understand: I gave you a Quirk in exchange for a mission, and not only did you fail that mission, but you also betrayed me," Mina shook her head. "I gave you my trust, and you stabbed me in the back in the end. This isn't something I can just forgive, Kodai, you have to be punished."

Yui kept trying to break free from the monster's grasp. "What are you going to do to me?!"

Mina smirked and looked at Kendo as she raised her opera glove gadget, and pressed its fingertips on Yui's forehead. The gauntlet unleashed black and red electricity as Yui screamed in agony, her eyes turning completely blank as this kept going.

As soon as she finished and released Yui, the teenager dropped to the ground and rolled over ro Kendo with a kick from The acidic girl.

"What did you do to her!?" Kendo yelled, clutching Yui's unconscious body.

"Relax, I simply knocked her out, although once she wakes up, I'm sure she'll wish I had killed her instead." Mina glanced at Midoriya with a smug smile. "After all, being Quirkless is quite the living hell, isn't it?"

Midoriya's eyes widened, quickly comnecting the dots of Mina's message as Kurogiri teleported her right behind Kendo, who she placed on a choke hold before she pressed her gauntlet's fingertips on her forehead.

Barely a couple seconds passed before Kendo was freed, feeling slightly more...invigorated? Refreshed? Whatever she was feeling was positive, that was certain.

"There, you got Yui's Quirk now," Mina explained, earning a furious glare from the redhead as she put Yui back on the ground. "You don't need to thank me for the gift, it was the least I could since your friend-"

Suddenly, Kendo enlarged her hand, grabbed Mina with it, and then began slamming her on the ground repeatedly and creating craters by her side. She did this a couple of times before she finished by flattening Mina against a crater, the pink girl groaning in pain as she stood up.

"Okay, clearly," Mina hissed as she lifted her head. "Someone doesn't know gratitude!"

However, once she lifted her head, the primordial fear she once felt returned as she saw Kendo, with both her hands increased to their biggest size and clenched together, and a glare with the same intent to make her pay as Midoriya and Shiozaki's.

"Kurogiri!"

The black mass swallowed Mina, and backed away before Kendo slammed her fists on the ground, causing it to shake as cracks spread all over the spot. She then shrunk her hands back to normal, and focused on the unconscious Yui as Mina came out of a portal far away from the redhead, and dusted herself.

Where did she land, though? Right next to Yanagi and Mineta, the latter who was quickly punted away into the teachers.

"Okay, regardless of your ingratitude, something else needs to be addressed: Yanagi also failed her mission," Mina sighed and turned to the silver-haired teenager. "However, since she didn't betray me, her punishment doesn't need to be as severe."

Mina did to Yanagi what she did with Yui, only without the lighting and screams of agony. Once finished, she turned to Hatsume and jabbed her forehead, transferring the Quirk she just took to her.

"There's your Quirk back, Hatsume. I hope you understand I'm only giving it back to you because I have no more use for it."

Hatsume checked herself, and smiled once she realized her balance was back to normal.

Then she looked at who had given her her Quirk back, and she narrowed her eyes.

"Now, that only leaves one more Quirk in Give and Take, Attractive Gesture," Mina remarked, holding back a chuckle. "And I just have to say, what the hell's up with that name? I know the user can name their Quirk whatever they want, but come on, that sounds less like a Quirk and more like-"

Finally tired of Mina's nonsense, Hatsume grabbed the girl's mechanical eye and ripped it clean off, pink sparks of electricity popping out of the object as Mina reeled back and howled in pain.

"Sorry about that, but you were talking a little bit too much for my comfort," Hatsume responded as the pink girl shot a glare at her. "Besides, you know what they say,"

Hatsume crushed the eye with her bare hands. "An eye for an eye."

Mina clenched her normal fist and punched Hatsume right in the face, sending her flying straight into Midoriya's arms. "Hatsume, are you alright?!"

"Yeah, I'm a little bit better now," Hatsume rubbed her head. "I'm kinda surprised you didn't burst the workshop's door open earlier. Yanagi was attacking me and I didn't even feel you show up."

"I didn't sense anything..." Midoriya's eyes widened. "Wait, Hatsume, where's the feather I gave you?!"

The gadgeteer checked her hair, and grimaced. "I don't have it!"

"Are you looking for this?"

The duo turned around and saw Mina holding a very familiar white feather on her fingers, holding a smug grin as she clutched it with her hand, and used her Quirk to melt it into nothing. And when Midoriya gently put Hatsume on the ground and bolted for Mina, Kurogiri appeared in front of him and teleported him right back to Hatsume's side.

"Sorry that I had to take away your girlfriend's little "protection feather", but I need you to understand," Mina shook her head. "Yanagi would've had no chance to kill Hatsume if you were there to shove your nose where you're not wanted."

"Ashido!" Midoriya yelled, his eyes flashing orange.

"Well, anyway, there's still the matter of the other Quirk I have yet to give," Mina looked at Give and Take. "I could always just keep the Quirk for myself and wait until another test subject drops by, though. Don't wanna risk failing to follow Quirk Synergy, after all."

Melissa and All Might raised an eyebrow. "Quirk Synergy?"

"Quirk Synergy is a theory that plants that certain Quirks work together seamlessly, minimizing the risk of the user's body growing unstable due to too many Quirks. For example, Quirks that can grow and shrink things can exist within the same body without risk."

Kendo took a step back and narrowed her eyes.

"Of course, the more different the Quirks, and the more there are, the bigger the risk that the body won't be able to take it anyway," Mina shrugged. "So, I'm only going to focus on adding one extra Quirk to a person's body, and then experiment with adding two Quirks until-"

"Just piss off already."

It was then that everybody turned around and saw some Class 1-A students had arrived, no doubt giving Eraserhead a massive headache. These students were Uraraka, Kaminari, Kirishima, and the one who said the statement, Bakugou.

"Listen up, Pinky, your time to be a pain in everyone's ass is over. You had your chance, you had your fun, but now it's time for you to move on, and rot in a prison cell right where you belong!"

"Is it me, or did Bakugou just rhyme?" Kaminari asked, causing Kirishima to shush him.

"I can't just leave now that I have this power, "dear brother," Mina smirked. "I need to show all of you the benefits of Quirk Synergy, and the inevitable next step of humanity-"

"Shut. Up." Bakugou demanded. "Whatever this "Quirk Synergy" and "Next step of humanity" bullshit you want to talk about is, nobody gives a shit. So, give back the Quirks you stole to their rightful owners, shove your head up your ass, and fuck off!"

A pregnant silence followed as Mina's smile turned into an exasperated frown. She then rubbed her forehead, and took a deep breath before she spoke again:

"Alright, interesting proposal. Let me give you a counteroffer."

Mina used Kurogiri to teleport in front of Bakugou, whose shocked reaction stunned him as Mina clenched her fist and yelled:

"How about _you_ piss off and _DIE_!"

Mina threw a punch, but Kirishima and Uraraka stood in front of Bakugou, ready to take the hit instead. Mina wobbled as she saw her fist was heading straight for Kirishima, and spun around until she got a clear shot at Uraraka, who she attacked with an acid-covered punch right to the face, causing her to fall and scream in pain.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Kirishima!?" the acidic girl snapped. "That punch was meant for Bakugou, not you!"

"If you want to hurt Bakugou, you'll have to hurt me too!" Kirishima snapped, baring his fangs. "This has gone on for long enough, Mina!"

Before Mina could retort, an explosion was unleashed right in her face, sending her flying back to the center of the top. The one who unleashed the explosion, Bakugou, held his steaming palm forward for a moment before he crouched down and checked on Uraraka.

"Uraraka, are you okay?"

The girl groaned and stood up, covering the spot Mina had struck. "I-I think so... but I don't think words are going to work for her anymore."

"No, they're not," Kirishima sadly corroborated. "I didn't see her eyes for long, but the small bit I saw made it clear to me that Mina's gone off the deep end. She's not going to stop until she finishes what she's here for, which is either trick people into joining her with extra Quirks, or kill us all."

"Kirishima..." Uraraka remarked with sympathy.

Just then, an orange pillar of light emerged from Midoriya's spot, and once it dispersed, it revealed Midoriya had accessed his transformed state, only it didn't destroy the top of his uniform this time... well, for the most part, the back half of the uniform got destroyed when he spread his wings.

"Well, this is interesting," Mina scoffed. "What's this form supposed to be-?"

Mina suddenly felt herself be paralyzed in place by Midoriya's glare, which had the same intent as the one in the sports festival, only this time, it was double the determination to beat her.

Without uttering a single word, Midoriya spread his wings, and flew forward.


	32. Counterattack

Back where we left off, Midoriya rushed straight for Mina as the dumbfounded teenager looked at him, standing frozen even as Midoriya threw a swan wing-enhanced punch, sending her crashing into the ground.

"I'm sick and tired of you coming out of nowhere and turning everything into shit!"

"Well crap, Deku just swore," Bakugou remarked. "If that doesn't prove things are getting intense, I don't know what will."

"Guess he learned a thing or two from you, huh?" Hatsume quipped.

While some people turned to look at Hatsume, Melissa and All Might looked at Midoriya as the boy took a series of heavy breaths, baring his teeth and clenching his shaking fists.

_This rage is unvelievable... I mean, I'd expect this from someone like me, but only during an episode of pure rage..._ Melissa grimaced. _This anger... feels like It's been building up for a long while..._

_When I first met Young Midoriya, he asked me what I thought about Quirkless people. And considering his Quirk activated only recently, he probably spent most of his life thinking he was Quirkless..._ All Might's eyes widened._ And knowing what it feels to live Quirkless myself, this can only be one thing._

"Deku has unleashed the anger he's been bottling up for years," Bakugou remarked in a horrified realization. "The anger of being demeaned and bullied because everyone thought he was Quirkless."

Shiozaki and Kendo's eyes widened, but they said nothing, it was quite clear to them they were seeing years of repressed anger running loose.

"Mina Ashido, this is officially done!" Kurogiri exclaimed. "I'll take you back to headquarters right now!"

"Hold your horses, Kurogiri!" Mina exclaimed as she stood up and dusted herself. "This is something he just pulled off his butt. I'll take care of it no problem!"

Kurogiri shook his head. "Your arrogance is only matched by my master's."

Mina got ready to strike back at Midoriya's incoming attack, but just as he got close, a bolt of yellow lighting ran up to her and punched her right in the face, yelling "SMASH!" as the hit connected. The resulting force sent Mina all the way beyond the boundary of the top of the tower, with only Kurogiri's timely intervention stopping her from plummeting to her doom.

The flash soon revealed herself to be Melissa, yellow lighting cackling across her body as she held a serious expression.

"Melissa?!" the boy asked as he landed on the ground, his wings not disspating afterwards. "W-What are you doing?!"

"Midoriya, do you remember what I said when we first met? About how I was supposed to keep an eye on Ashido and she got away?" the bespectacled inheritor replied, slowly turning to the boy as she adjusted her glasses. "Well, if you're gonna give her the beating she deserves, let me have a piece of it, too."

"Melissa, you don't have to do this-"

"It's my fault for not noticing earlier the kind of monster she was. Midoriya, please, let me correct my mistake."

The boy thought about it for a moment, then nodded and shook hands with Melissa, exchanging smiles as they turned around... and spotted Hatsume looking at them, excitedly waiting for the upcoming beating.

"Don't worry, Hatsume, I'm only gonna steal him from you for a second!" Melissa shouted.

"Don't worry about me!" Hatsume flashed a thumbs up. "Just kick her ass!"

Melissa returned the thumbs up as Midoriya laughed a little, and shortly after, the duo crouched and bolted straight for Mina, who dodged Midoriya's swan punch only to be hit by Melissa's smash instead, sending her rolling straight for the teachers... with All Might held in Midnight's arms.

This gave her the chance to unleash her acid at the weakened symbol of peace... or it would've given her the chance, had Eraserhead not used his Quirk on her, causing her to only make a swipe with her arm as the other teachers quickly reacted.

Present Mic unleashed a titanic howl, Ectoplasm created a multitude of clones that punched and kicked the teenager in place long enough for Vlad King to generate a spear of blood and throw it, narrowly missing Mina for inches, grazing her cheek instead.

"Goddammit, why won't you just let me kill All Might!" Mina snapped. "Kurogiri!"

The black mass bolted towards the teachers, Eraserhead's Quirk doing nothing to deter the living fog. However, All Might managed to assume his buff form for a brief moment and throw a smash forward, the resulting air pressure sending it and Mina off to the side, and just in time for him to deflate back into his weakened form.

"We need to get All Might to a hospital or a recovery room or somewhere where he can heal!" Midnight stated.

"What about the students?" Eraserhead asked.

"Melissa and Midoriya have it covered, so I don't think the other students are in much danger," Nezu replied. "For now, we need to focus on getting All Might treatment immediately."

The other teachers, though hesitant, agreed with the mammal's statement and they promptly evacuated the place, along with the police, who had realized they were practically useless at this point. This left the students of 1-A, 1-B, and Mineta and Hatsume alone while Melissa and Midoriya continued their barrage of attacks at Mina.

With Eraserhead no longer blocking her Quirk, Mina swiped her arm and unleashed a wave of acid at the duo, Melissa responding by flicking her finger with enough power to unleash a gust of wind that sent the acid back at Mina.

Of course, it was also strong enough to break her finger and turn it purple.

"Melissa!"

"I'll be okay, this is just a minor injury," the inheritor responded as she clutched her hand.

"You don't say?"

The duo turned around and saw the black fog safely taking Mina right back to the arena. Clearly, getting rid of the black fog was a priority, but so was Mina, so...

"A Quirk so strong that even using little bits of it can destroy your whole body," Mina smirked as she touched her arm with Give and Take. "Sounds like a little regeneratice power is a must!"

"Mina Ashido, what are you thinking!?" Kurogiri snapped.

Mina didn't even bother answering, she just lunged forward and hit Melissa's forehead with her fingertips. They glowed for a moment before Midoriya separated the duo with a kick and checked on Melissa.

However, something that immediately caught his attention was her finger: it was no longer purple, and in fact, it looked perfectly healthy and stable.

"Melissa... your finger's fine now..." Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "But how?"

Melissa grabbed her head and groaned. "I don't know, but I'm feeling... a strange energy or something that's making my head dizzy."

"It must be an extra Quirk!" Kendo exclaimed, getting everyone's attention. "Yui said that she and Yanagi felt a surge of energy when they got additional Quirks, this is probably something similar!"

"Indeed it should be, but it seems her body can't take it," Mina shrugged and shook her head. "Guess that's to be expected from a mere Quirkless girl."

Melissa winced and Midoriya got ready to attack the pink girl... until Kendo jumped out of nowhere and sent her flying with a giant fist.

"Midoriya, help Melissa recover faster!" Kendo ordered as she shrank her fist. "The rest of us will deal with Mina and the black fog!"

"I suggest you focus mostly on Mina, though," Kurogiri spoke, getting everyone's attention. "I assure you, the beating you give her will be most cathartic compared to whatever you do to me."

Kendo raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to defend her?"

"She has done way too many audacious, counterproductive things this day alone," Kurogiri shook his head. "She had so much promise, and yet she threw it all away the instant she decided to screw around."

"Screw around!?" Mina snapped as she dusted herself. "I'll let you know that if you're talking about the regeneration give away, there was a reason for that!"

"And What's that reason!?" Melissa exclaimed.

"It's simple, I don't want to get you on my side, you've made it clear that's impossible," Mina smirked. "I just want you to see the kind of power Quirk Synergy can allow. After all, a Quirk that destroys your body and a Quirk that heals you are like yin and yang."

"Opposite, but complementary," Melissa finished, narrowing her eyes.

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, I ALREADY TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!"

Bakugou was next to suddenly appear to Mina, throwing a couple of explosions right at her face. This sent her a couple of feet back, but didn't do much beyond that.

So Bakugou and Kendo exchanged looks, and nodded before they gestured the rest of their classmates to join.

The beating had begun.

Shiozaki started everyone off by planting her hair on the ground, then spreading it until it landed right behind Mina, capturing and keeping the pink girl in place.

This was followed by Kaminari shooting a great load of electricity through the vines, electrocuting Mina as she was promptly assaulted by Bakugou's explosions, Kendo's giant fists, Monoma's copies of explosions using Kendo's giant fists, and finally a bum rush by Kirishima.

However, at the last attack, Mina snapped herself free from the vines and headbutted Kirishima to a standstill.

"Even you, Kirishima!?" Mina snapped, sounding distressed. "We're childhood friends! You should be on my side! You should be helping me!"

"I am!" the guy gritted his teeth and hardened his fist. "I'm helping you realize how far you've fallen!"

Kirishima threw a hardened punch at Mina right in the face, sending her rolling and crashing off to the side. However, it wasn't long before she got back up, screaming bloody murder as she bolted for Kirishima.

Before she could reach him, however, Pony stood in front of him and took out her horns, an identical pair popping out as Pony made her held horns straight... and a blade made of energy came out of their hollow ends.

"Stand back, everyone!" Pony stated. "I'll handle her now!"

"Um, since when can she do that?" Kirishima asked, earning shrugs from the 1-B students.

What followed was a very quick beatdown of Mina being constantly slashed by Pony's energy swords, which got so fast that they even interrupted Mina's own attacks and brought her to her knees, a sight that pleased Kurogiri

Then, Pony swung her sword one more time before proclaiming, "By the Hero Public Safety Commission, I order you to surrender!"

"Great, another agent," Melissa groaned, rubbing her forehead.

"Heh, you think just telling me to give up will be enough? Come on now," Mina eyed Pony. "By the way, nice horns. Are you compensating for something?"

Tsunotori smiled. "Maybe, but at least I still _have_ my horns."

Mina raised an eyebrow at the statement before she felt a subtle hesdache, followed by blood running down the sides of her face. Then she glanced at something that fell at Pony's side... something that had a peculiar horn-like shape-

It was her horns... her horns were laying on the ground...

Pony swung her blades again, probably to try stun Mina, but the acidic girl used all her strengths to back away and stand her ground, though her shivering legs made it clear she was nearing her limit.

The shivering only intensified when Mina scanned her surroundings and found herself trapped, with almost a dozen teenagers ready to beat her up and make her pay for what she had done to them.

The only exception were Melissa and Uraraka, who were both resting on the ground. The latter, in fact, was completely unguarded, and her Quirk wouldn't manage to hurt Mina until she got close...

The pink girl smirked and cartwheeled straight for Uraraka, dodging an array of attacks from the combined force of 1-A and 1-B.

And once she got close enough, Mina swung Give and Take forward and pressed its fingertips on Uraraka's forehead, a brief glow indicating the successful transfer of a Quirk.

"What,.. just happened?" Uraraka asked as she felt strange. "What's this feeling?"

"Oh shit," Kendo remarked.

"Oh shit indeed," Bakugou grimaced.

"Make this gesture towards an object," Mina said, demonstrating a familiar gesture. "Like, for example, one of my horns over there."

Uraraka and Mina turned to look at the bleeding horns, and Uraraka made the gesture at one just as Pony began to hack them to pieces. She repeated the gesture and the object levitated towards her, eventually landing on her hand as Midoriya realized what was going on.

"Uraraka! Drop that thing!"

The girl turned to Midoriya, and the look in her eyes brought the guy to a stop. Her eyes had a crazed feel from it, almost as if they were acting as proof of an overwhelming sense of energy within her.

"I gave you the Quirk of Midoriya's mother," Mina explained. "With this Quirk, you'll be able to bring small objects to you with a simple gesture. Combined with your Quirk, it should be obvious what great potential this combination brings."

Midoriya gritted his teeth, and Melissa stood up, lighting sparkling across her body.

"The Quirk is all yours, Uraraka," Mina smirked. "You just have to attack Midoriya with the horn, and help me hold back the other assholes until Kurogiri decides to cooperate.

Kurogiri lowered his eyelids, as if silently, mockingly telling Mina she'd need luck for that. Regardless, Uraraka turned back to Midoriya, and got ready to throw the horn, the swan knight backing away as Melissa got in front of him.

Then Uraraka smiled, winked, and swung the horn right into Mina's shoulder.

" What the hell, Uraraka!?" the acidic girl snapped.

"Sorry, Ashido," Uraraka said, her tone making it very clear she didn't mean the apology at all. "But I got my priorities straight!"

Mina, with eyes that had lost any and all semblance of life, just stared dumbfounded as 1-A and 1-B assaulted with a barrage of attacks. Explosions, big fists, vines, and even Melissa had managed to recover enough to join the barrage.

But Mina was barely responsive to the attacks.

_This is unbelievable: The nomus were taken out, Hatsume's still around, Kodai and Yanagi are useless to me now, Kirishima's on Bakugou's side, Bakugou's being a piece of shit, I've been dehorned, Uraraka betrayed me, and now I have Midoriya and Shield kicking my ass..._

Mina crashed on the ground, and she just... laid there, her eyes having lost their light as she saw Melissa and Midoriya plummeting towards them, holding their fists together.

_Do I have to do this? Do I have to go so far below my standards that I have to use my Quirk's true power?_

A black mass swallowed Mina and teleported her away moments before Melissa and Midoriya's conjoined fists hit the ground, shaking the building once again. Once the dust cloud settled, the glare Melissa and Midoriya were giving Mina sealed her decision.

_Guess that's a yes._

Mina forced a smile. "Damn you all..."

A mass of pink stuff fell from Mina's back and crawled to Kurogiri's side, while the acidic girl continued:

"I didn't go this far just to fall to a bunch of c-bit fakers and a white duck. The successor of All Might, maybe. But not the rest of you."

Melissa raised an eyebrow, and the pink mass got behind Kurogiri.

"So... I'm gonna have to take extreme measures."

The pink mass grew twice Kurogiri's size, its looming shafow getting the living fog's attention as he glanced at the girl.

"I'm sorry, Kurogiri," Mina shrugged. "But I'm afraid I can't do this on my own."

Kurogiri shook his head. "You won't know sorry until you meet my master again, Mina Ashido."

And so, the pink mass devoured Kurogiri, and it flew right back to Mina, merging with her soon after. She chuckled as the heroes present gasped and looked horrified at what had happened, convincing her to explain herself.

"Acid" was just the name I used to make my Quirk seem like horrifying than it really is. After all, call your Quirk a certain name or have it do certain things, and people will immediately label you a villain."

Then, she glanced at Bakugou. "Unless those people want to use you, in which case you're a hero."

Bakugou growled. "What the hell's your point?"

"My Quirk's true power isn't just to melt things," Mina cackled as her skin began to turn purple. "But to melt people and let me absorb them into my being!"

A wall of pink flames burst from Mina's spot, and everybody took a step back and covered their eyes. The flames slowly dissipated, and once they could uncover their eyes and see clearly, everybody saw with shock as Mina walked out of the flames, revealing her new form.

Besides her skin now being purple, Mina's hair had become transluscent and was flowing graciously, emitting a purple glow around its Snow white color. Her eyes had become almost completely pink, her pupils being golden instead.

"And, as you can plainly see," the girl spoke with a layered voice. "It's really fucking terrifying."

Midoriya, undeterred by the sight, flew towards the fused teenager with Melissa coming after him. Once they got close enough, however, Mina opened a portal that took Midoriya and Melissa's punches, and opened portals in front of their stomachs. The punches came out of the portals, and the duo backed away and clutched them in pain.

"By the way, I can use the Quirks of those I absorb," Mina smugly remarked. "Of course, since even the Quirk factor is absorbed, I'd be dumber if I couldn't do that, don't you think?"

Melissa gritted her teeth, but just as she growled at Mina, a *THUD* got her attention. It was from Midoriya, who dropped to the ground and had turned back to his base form.

"Oh my, looks like the little punch you threw was too much for him to handle," Mina smirked. "How strong _was_ that punch, anyway?"

Melissa didn't answer, instead, she tried throwing another punch at Mina, who simply opened a big portal and prepared to engulf the pair in it.

"How annoying. Well, it was fun while it lasted, but I'm afraid I have to get rid of you. Nothing personal, Shield, you were just, what's the word? Not good enough."

The portal engulfed the duo, and when they were let out, Melissa and Midoriya promptly fell from the sky and straight for the ground.

"Deku! Superglasses!" Bakugou exclaimed before glaring at Mina. "You little shit!"

"What? Did you want to be the one to do it?" Mina laughed. "Come on, Bakugou, now's not the time to play games."

Bakugou propulsed himself forward with an explosion, anf as the other students ran behind him, he echoed their thoughts:

"I'll kill you!"


	33. All's Well That Ends Well

Melissa stopped screaming as she and the unconscious Midoriya fell from the tallest point of the U.A. building. She "swam" in the air and approached the boy, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him as she pleaded.

"Midoriya, wake up! Your Quirk lets you summon swan wings when falling from deadly heights, right?! Summon them now!"

But the boy didn't respond.

"Midoriya, summon your wings!"

Still nothing.

"We're gonna die if you don't get those wings out, Izuku!"

By this point, it had become blatantly clear that the boy, while not dead, wouldn't manage to wake up quickly enough to avoid their messy fate. So, as tears escaped her eyes, Melissa held Midoriya close, wrapped him in a hug, and closed her eyes.

_Somebody... save us..._

"Save yourself."

_Thanks, that's totally what I needed to_... Melissa opened her eyes and began looking around. _Wait, who said that?_

"Look in front of you."

Melissa turned to what was front of her, and to be honest, if she wasn't curretnly scared for her life, what she saw would've sent chills down her spine.

She saw an apparition of a woman, probably in her thirties, with a ponytail and golden, glowing eyes. She couldn't make out much more beyond that, but she had a feeling that whatever she was wearing, it was her hero costume, and it seemed to be cheaply made.

"Hey there, sorry for popping out of nowhere, but I couldn't help but notice your cry for help," the apparition spoke, waving her hand. "So, what's up?"

"What's up!?" Melissa snapped. "I'm currently plummeting to my doom while a fusion between a pink jerk and a black fog portal is planning to kill my friends, and you ask me what's up!?"

"Hey, I've been dormant within your Quirk this entire time, I only recently woke up," the apparition replied. "However, I will admit that asking you what's up is kinda stupid: you clearly are in need of my help."

"Dormant? Within my Quirk? As in, you're part of One for All?" Melissa rubbed her head with her free hand. "What the hell's going on?!"

"I'll tell you later, but for now, I'll let you borrow my Quirk just this once. But after this showcase, you're gonna have to unlock it on your own."

The apparition disipated into light, and just as Melissa pondered whatever she was talking about, she felt herself... lighter. As if her descent towards the ground had suddenly been brought to a halt.

Then she looked down, and saw that she was hovering in place in the middle of the air, mere inches away from the ground. Not only that, but by simple thoughts, she managed to move around the place, even getting to move slightly upwards.

Eventually, the apparition reappeared right by her side. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"You bet," Melissa tilted her head. "What am I even doing?"

"You're still too young to get the full story," the apparition replied. "Maybe, when you manage to grow a little stronger, we can tell you what's going on."

"We?" Melissa turned to the apparition. "You mean you're not the only one inside One for All?"

The apparition shook her head as seven other apparitions appeared, one which looked surprisingly similar to All Might's weakened form.

"We're the vestiges that live inside One for All. For generations, we've held the power of One for All to-"

"Uh, yeah, interesting history lesson and all, but there's a psychopath trying to kill my friends, and she's already incapacitated Uncle Might-"

"All Might was incapacitated?!" the apparition exclaimed. "How did that even happen?!"

"According to the psycho, she tricked him into hitting his body injury with his own punch-"

"Of course it was self-inflicted," one of the vestiges spoke. "All Might was always all brawn and no brains. It was only a matter of time before his immense strength was turned against him."

"That's besides the point," the apparition stated. "The situation has to be really bad if All Might was taken out. It's clear that we have no choice."

Melissa raised an eyebrow. "What are you going to do?"

"We'll give you access to all of our Quirks," the apparition responded. "And with the stockpiling aspect of One for All empowering those Quirks further, you should have enough strength to defeat this psycho once and for all."

Melissa dropped Midoriya in disbelief, and before she could protest the baffling statement, the vestiges turned into energy spheres and entered Melissa's body, the electricity around the bespectacled inheritor intensified until she gained a golden aura, and she opened her eyes to reveal glowing, golden pupils...

* * *

A massive purple explosion happened and Bakugou, as well as the other students, fell down and rolled on the ground until they stopped, the explosion soon vanishing to reveal Mina floating in place with a sadistic smirk.

"Damn it..." Bakugou hissed, trying to create explosions from his palm, but only being able to create firecrackers from the pain. "Damn you!"

"Impresive vocabulary, dear brother," Mina scoffed as she aimed Give and Take at the group. "But now, I've grown tired of your refusal to use your Quirks to their utmost potential. So I think I'm gonna take them and break their limits-"

"Wind Pressure!"

An intense gust of wind was shot, sending Mina flying away as Melissa entered the arena, carrying Midoriya in a bridal carry.

Notably however, her appearance had changed: her hair was flowing seamlessly, and a golden aura bathed her as she floated in place.

"She can fly!" the students exclaimed in disbelief.

"You can fly?!" Mina snapped. "What is this bullshit!?"

"Not bullshit, just a little extra something I could do all along!" Melissa answered proudly as she floated to the ground. "After all, I never said my Quirk only let me punch really hard!"

"Uh, no, I'm pretty sure you said just that when you introduced yourself at the start of the school year," Kaminari stated.

"Well, yeah, I did," Melissa turned to her class and smiled sheepishly. "But I was actually lying in order to not reveal how stupidly strong my Quirk is."

"I see," Bakugou scratched his chin. "It's like how I only make big explosions in order to not make myself look so much better than the extras."

"And your personality compensates for that, I presume?" Hatsume quipped.

Bakugou scoffed. "Perhaps."

Hatsume shook her head, and Melissa flew to her and placed Midoriya right on her arms, just in time for the boy to wake up and witness the glorious sight of the fully empowered Melissa.

Of course, he had no idea what was going on. "Melissa? Why... are you glowing?"

"It's okay, Izuku, don't force yourself," Hatsume said, rubbing his hair. "Melissa's going to take care of things from here."

"What? But... Mina's... done something with the fog and gotten stronger," Midoriya weakly replied. "How are you going to beat that?"

"Believe me, I'll find a way," Melissa responded, flashing a thumbs up. "I'm gonna put an end to Mina's reign of terror once and for all."

Midoriya let out a little smile, and nodded. He kept the smile as Melissa took a couple steps forward, and glared at Mina, who promptly floated to the ground with her arms folded.

"So, guess this is it, huh-?"

Before she could even finish, Melissa ran so fast to her that she seemingly teleported, and threw a smash right to her face.

"Less talking, more fighting! Wind Pressure!"

Another intense gust of wind was called forth, this time coming out of the winds released from the punch. This time, however, Mina managed to stand her ground and create a portal to appear right behind Melissa. However, moments before she could throw a kick, or punch, or anything, Melissa clenched her hand into a fist and slammed it against Mina's face, without even bothering to look at her as she spun and threw a kick soon after.

"Ki!"

With that exclamation, Melissa clenched her fists and screamed as she was surrounded by a volatile, fiery aura. After screaming for a moment, she placed her hands together, charged up an energy sphere, then aimed it forward and shot an energy beam at the fused teenager.

Mina, however, managed to hold the beam at bay with Give and Take, and even absorb the beam after a few seconds, allowing her to fly forward and throw the beam-empowere punch at Melissa...

Only to hit a square, crystal shield Melissa summoned in front of her.

"Reflection!"

The crystalline square shield glowed before unleashing the beam right back at Mina, the teenager being unable to block or dodge this time. The resulting beam sent her flying upwards before its explosion sent her spinning in the air.

"Alright, that's it!" Mina yelled as she regained her composure. "This has gone long enough!"

"I agree!" Melissa clenched her fists. "So let me drop the curtains!"

Melissa dodged the teleporting Mina's attack, and kicked her with enough force to send her back in the air... and also turn her leg purple and useless.

With that done, she got on her one good leg, and clenched her fists as she charged them with energy from One for All. It wasn't long before she gained enough energy to throw punches at the sky at such speed, that it almost seemed like she was going faster than the naked eye could perceive.

And in that moment, Mina stopped and watched the incoming attack in shock.

A hundred... no, a thousand giant fists, each coated in golden energy, and heading straight for her. Even using her portals wouldn't work, since they were heading too fast to be avoided or dodged.

Ergo, Mina got on the receiving end of a thousand giant fists, each one causing cracks on her form until she was left almost completely broken, her eyes barely holding any semblance of consciousness after the beating.

"By the way..."

And then Melissa appeared right in front of her, her arms and leg still looking purple... for about a second before they were surrounded by a green aura, and restored to full health.

"Thanks for the regeneration Quirk. Really appreciate it."

Mina's eyes widened in horror, and this was all she could do before Melissa reeled her fist back.

"Detroit Smash!"

Melissa shot a fist forward, the resulting hit unleashing enough force to not only complete Mina's cracking, but unleash a golden explosion twice the size of Mina's own, earlier explosion, even causing the sky itself to shake.

From the explosion came out the two halves of Mina, which soon reformed back into the full body of normal Mina, and Kurogiri, who kept just enough consciousness to swallow Mina and land back on the ground, with Melissa landing soon after.

"Well, looks like there's one of you left," Melissa took a battle stance and flashed a cocky grin. "Wanna take your chances?"

"Not at all, I believe any beating you could give me would be nothing compared to the catharsis of putting Mina Ashido in her place," Kurogiri answered. "You have done your part magnificently, child. May I ask for your name?"

"Hmph, as if I'd do something so dumb as to give a villain my name!"

"...I see... then it is true you're smarter than you seem, Melissa Shield," Kurogiri spoke, sending a chill down Melissa's spine. "Very well, you have done your part, and now it's our turn to deal with Mina. With that said, I bid you farewell."

"W-Wait!"

But it was too late, Kurogiri had turned into a portal and teleported himself out of the place, with Melissa's powered state disappearing soon after.

_Dang it, One for All's empowerment finished too quickly!_ Melissa thought, looking at her hands. _If I had just a couple seconds more I could've captured that guy! I didn't even get to ask that thing what it was all about. Why would he ask my name if he already knew what it was? So strange..._

"Hey, Superglasses!"

Melissa winced and turned around, seeing Bakugou gesturing at her.

"If you're done kicking ass, we need you to help us! And trust me, it hurts me a lot to say that!"

Melissa nodded and clenched her fist.

_Well, at least Mina's been dealt with... But I'm still worried about what that thing meant when he said they'd take care of her now..._

* * *

Mina Ashido's eyes sprung open, and she found herself back in a medical bed. Only this time, she wasn't at the hospital. In fact, it was so pitch black that she couldn't even get an idea of where she could be.

But there was one other person beside her: the doctor, who looked rather... disappointed.

"It's quite lamentable that this is where you wound up afterwards, Mina Ashido. Broken, defeated, helpless against a beast so overwhelmingly strong you are lucky to still be alive, and the only one you have to blame for unleashing such a beast in the first place, was you."

"Save your condolences, old man, I did my job, didn't I?" Mina smirked. "You wanted to see if Quirk Synergy was a real thing, and the data you got proved it is. So, once I'm feeling better, I'll be more than ready to give it another shot-"

"You won't get another shot."

Mina's smiled faltered.

"In fact... you won't exist anymore. Individually, that is."

And it instantly turned into a frown. "What?!"

The doctor adjusted his glasses and stood up.

"Let me explain. You, Mina Ashido, are not a living organism. You were created using the corpse of a recently deceased teenage girl by the name of Himiko Toga, nee Bakugou, who was killed while under the custody of Stain, the hero killer. The name for a creature such as yourself... is a Nomu."

Mina's eyes were shaking, and she was honestly starting to lose her mind. Well, losing it more than she did before.

"W-Wait, you have to be shitting me!" Mina snapped. "There's no way she died while under Stain!"

"She was killed during a failed operation by pro-hero Power Loader," the doctor continued. "Stain managed to find out he was the teacher of the support course of U.A., and so, in order to get payback, he crippled one of his own students."

"N-No, t-that's not what happened..." Mina shivered. "I-I told Stain the idea h-he could t-try crippling a student! He did it for me!"

"Stain doesn't even care about you: he cares about the person used to make you," the doctor adjusted his glasses. "In fact, he decided to cooperate wth us once we told him that once your use had been fulfilled, his protege... his adoptive daughter even... would be returned back to life."

The doctor flashed a sick grin. "Of course, we never told him he wouldn't be incarcerated when it happened."

"No... No! You lie!"

The doctor began walking away. "Before you were a thing, there was a child. One that was abandoned and mistreated by society for having a Quirk that promoted nonconfirmity. A Quirk that made it difficult for her to be accepted in today's world."

"That... that kid was me!"

"Those kid's _memories_ made you think so, but truth is, you weren't born when you were a child... as a Nomu, you were born when she _died_," the doctor explained. "And once _you_ die, she'll live again. Perhaps with a little extra something, in order to guarantee her loyalty."

"Wait, you can't do this to me! I did everything you asked for!" Mina shouted, trying to hold back tears. "I proved the Quirk Synergy theory! I got two people to submit to me thanks to it! And I even managed to discover the identity of All Might's successor!"

The doctor wasn't amused.

"Yes, you proved the Quirk Synergy theory, by blatantly stating it in front of the police, who will now investigate it. You got two people to submit to you, but you rendered one Quirkless for failing and the other one you took the Qurk you gave her and put it back to its original owner. And the Quirks you took from the one you made Quirkless were given to people who weren't tempted by the synergy."

The doctor turned to Mina.

"Finally, you made All Might's inheritor known to us, but in return, you also revealed the existence of Give and Take. Something that could prove detrimental to us. Just like your continued existence."

The doctor kept walking, facing away from Mina, only to stop when he heard her fall own of her bed and crawl towards.

"No, please, you can't do this to me! I can still be of use to you! Surely there's something else I can do!"

"You've done everything we could use you for."

"I beg you, please listen to me! You made me from a dead body, right?!" Mina began shedding tears. "I-I can get you other dead bodies to create more Nomus!"

The doctor's eyebrow perked, and Mina finally reached him and grabbed his labcoat.

"I can manipulate people into joining your side! I can even serve as a mere power booster to your other operatives! Just please, don't kill me! I... I don't even know what'll happen to me once I die! Just please... there has to be something I can do... anything!"

The doctor scratched his moustache. "You know, now that I think about it, there is one thing you could do."

Mina smiled, but without any malice. In fact, fear and hope coated it. "Yes! Anything!"

The doctor turned back to Mina, and prepared to strike the nerve to knock her out.

"Have some dignity and accept your fate."

*SMACK!*

* * *

Back at U.A., the students of the hero and support courses left the main building and did whatever they could to calm down: take deep breaths, count sheep, stuff like that.

"Well, that was one hell of a day," Bakugou remarked as he pocketed his hands. "Who here wants to bet the media's gonna be up our asses looking for Info about it?"

"That won't happen, Bakugou."

The students stopped, and saw detectives Tsukauchi and Inko approaching them. They were both looking rather happy, given the situation.

"The media won't be allowed anywhere near U.A. tomorrow," Inko smiled. "If they even come close to it, they'll have to pay quite the fee for trespassing private property. And if that fails, All Might himself will show them the exit."

"Shit, Midoriya's Mom definitely got her point straight," Bakugou smirked.

"Miss your next anger management appointment and I will slap a restraining order on your face," Inko hissed.

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

"Uh, Mom? I... kinda found your Quirk," Midoriya spoke, taking a step forward. "But I don't have it with me. You see, Mina somehow found something that allowed her to give and take Quirks at will-"

"And she took your Quirk and gave it to me," Uraraka remarked, joining Midoriya's side. "I didn't go crazy with power, so I managed to fight back, but the deed's already done."

"Yanagi and Kodai said something similar during their interrogation," Tsukauchi remarked. "They said they were given a second Quirk, and the resulting surge of power made them willing to work with Mina in order to keep the Quirks."

"Goddammit, even when we arrested her, she still found a way to screw everything up," Inko sighed and shook her head. "How long until she attacks again?"

"I don't know, but, I don't think freaking out about it will help," Midoriya took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry, Mom."

"Oh, Izuku, it's okay, really! I didn't use my Quirk often anyway!" Inko chuckled. "I'm curious though, did anybody else gain and kept a second Quirk?"

Kendo wasted no time walking to Midoriya's side.

"Well, we're gonna need to ask you some questions, but it'll just be Info about your second Quirks and The energy you felt when you got it," Tsukauchi stated. "The rest of you are free to go."

Kendo and Uraraka bid farewell to the group, and the groups hesitantly separated, Midoriya and Melissa taking a moment to see the girls leave with the detectives before they joined the group.

"So, Kirishima, are you holding up well?" Kaminari asked. "I mean, your best friend just nearly killed us all, and now she's off to who knows where."

Kirishima lowered his head and frowned, but just as Bakugou turned to look at him, he raised his head and smiled, "I'm fine, guys, really. Sure, it'll take time for me to accept Mina's a villain now, but I'll manage."

Bakugou lowered his eyelids and kept quiet the rest of the way.

As for the Class 1-B students, Midoriya approached Pony, who promptly snapped a look at him, making everybody else stand back as she growled:

"Listen, I may have revealed my real nature, but I'd rather not be treated any differently than before, okay?" Pony folded her arms. "What happened in the lockdown, stays in the lockdown, capiche?"

"I don't know what that means, but sure," Midoriya answered with a nervous smile.

"Good, in that case," Pony's eyes widened and her voice gained a pitch or two. "Let's do our best tomorrow, 'kay?!"

Before her classmates could answer, Pony got on all fours and trotted away, leaving the beffudled teenagers behind.

"Well, with that out of the way, there's something I'd like to say, too," Shiozaki turned to Midoriya, and bowed. "I give you my sincerest apologies."

Midoriya took a step back, straight to Melissa's side. "F-For what?"

"Back when the school year first started, I snapped at you and said some things I shouldn't have," Shiozaki frowned. "I told you how you didn't know what struggle felt like, in my anger for nearly being rock bottom at the test."

"She did say something like that, huh?" Monoma asked. "There was some gossip about that the day after."

"I never apologized for that statement, even after I saw you struggle, and even after I got the full story of what happened that unlocked your Quirk," Shiozaki bowed again. "So, I once again ask for your forgiveness, Midoriya."

"It's okay, Shiozaki, I accept your apology..." Midoriya snapped his fingers. "But there's one thing I want to ask you."

"Yes?"

"You showed signs of anger during your match with Mina."

Shiozaki lowered her head knowingly.

"I want to help you, if you'd let me."

"...How?"

"I don't know... but once I find a way, I'll do everything in my power to help you."

"... I'll consider it. Thanks, Midoriya."

The vine-haired teenager bowed one last time and clasped her hands, saying a silent prayer as she left, leaving Midoriya with Melissa and Monoma, the latter who promptly left the duo, saying:

"I'm gonna let you speak with the 1-A girl, I gotta go home right now."

Midoriya stammered his words as he tried to convince Monoma to stay, but it was too late. He was now alone with Melissa, who was rubbing her arm and looking elsewhere.

"Yo! Izuku! Melissa!"

Oh thank All Might, a third wheel!

"Mineta's gonna go straight home, so I decided to join you guys!" Hatsume chirped as she walked to and wrapped her arm around Midoriya's shoulder. "So, what did I miss?"

"Not much, Mei," Midoriya shrugged. "People left me and Melissa alone."

"Melissa?" Hatsume turned to the ninth inheritor. "I thought you would leave with your classmates?"

"I had the idea, but..." Melissa played with her hair. "There's something I d to talk with Midoriya about. Alone."

"Sorry, Lissa, we're a package deal," Hatsume smirked. "You wanna talk to Izuku, you gotta talk to me too."

"I figured as much," Melissa giggled. "Okay, so, Mi... actually, could I call you Izuku?"

Midoriya blushed, and Hatsume commented, "Is this an American thing or something?"

"Yes and no. People in America tend to refer to their friends by their first names..." Melissa's cheeks glowed bright red. "But I want to be more than friends with Midoriya-"

"Izuku's fine."

The girls turned to Midoriya, who promptly blushed and looked away, only for Hatsume to make him turn to a giggling Melissa.

"Okay, Izuku... I... want to be more than friends with you. After all..."

Melissa scanned her surroundings, then leaned closer to Midoriya and whispered, "You're the one who convinced Uncle Might to give me One for All. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to defeat Mina and save everyone."

Midoriya blushed and scratched his head. "Oh... w-well... I-I don't know, I've never had a girlfriend before-"

"Excuse me?!" Hatsume yelled, separating from the guy and putting her hands on her hips. "What the hell have I been to you since the sports festival, then!?"

Midoriya flashed a sheepish smile. "My... best friend?"

Hatsume looked shocked for a moment... and then her frown slowly transformed into a sly grin.

"Well, I'm gonna upgrade into your best _girlfriend_!" Hatsume eyed Melissa with a cocky smile. "So I'm sorry, Melissa, but you'll have to stay with the position of _second_ best girlfriend!"

"Yeah, I don't think so," Melissa folded her arms and returned the cocky smile. "The motto of the school is to go beyond, isn't it? Well, I'm gonna go beyond in my relationship with Midoriya! So don't be surprised if _I_ end up being the best girlfriend!"

"You won't beat me that easily!"

"E-Excuse me, don't I have a say in this?" Midoriya stuttered. "I-I mean, going by what you're saying, you're suggesting that we enter a... I don't know what's it called, but you two want to be my girlfriends at the same time?"

Melissa raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem with that?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Izuku, let me ask you a question," Hatsume put her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Would you be happy having either of us for a girlfriend?"

"Y-Yeah..."

Melissa put her hand on his remaining shoulder. "And would you be happy to have _both_ of us as girlfriends?"

"Definitely, but it wouldn't be easy."

Hatsume rolled her eyes. "Has _anything_ up to this point been easy?"

"... You know what? You're right," Midoriya grabbed the girls' hands. "If you don't mind having me, I'd love to be your boyfriend."

"And we'd love to be your girlfriends," Melissa replied.

"I'm the first girlfriend, though," Hatsume cockily eyed Melissa. "And also the one you're closer with."

Melissa shrugged. "No comment."

Hatsume pouted, and the expression in her face caused Midoriya to let out a little laugh, which spread to Melissa, and finally to Hatsume herself as the trio walked back home.

All's well that ends well, as an old saying went.


End file.
